Dir.
Katia Lund/Fernando Meirelles, 2002, Brazil/France/US, 130 mins, subtitles
Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandor Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen
City of God is one of the most flamboyant, exhilarating, and visually kinetic films you will see this year, capturing the mythologised picture-postcard perception of a vibrant Rio de Janeiro. However, based on Paolo Lin's 700-page tome Cidade de Deus, the ironic titles refers to a notorious no-go area of the city, the poor housing project that began life in the sixties, a place where gang warfare rules, and a child's burning ambition is to be it's most feared mob leader.
The film maps the story of two young boys - Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), who realises that his talent as a photographer may be his ticket to a different way of life, and L'il Dice Firminoda Hora), whose bloodlust from an early age paves the way for the most violent of adulthoods. Following a three-part structure, the film takes us through the sixties, seventies and eighties, cinematography and soundtrack jubilantly reflecting the 'feel' of each era.
The cast consists of over 200 youngsters from the 'flavelas' the drug-riddled neighbourhoods, all selected via a series of workshops with the filmmakers. Their intimate knowledge of 'The City of God', its lore and politics, help bring an authenticity to the story. There will be protestations that the film glorifies or at least celebrates drugs, murder and violence, and they will be right. This is exactly the point. The relentless orgy of guns and killing displays little or no thought for the consequences of such acts but this is what everyday life is like for these people. Being part of a gang provides the youngsters with stability and structure, a surrogate family to whom they are loyal. They don't question the gun culture, as they have nothing to compare it to, the only alternative being poverty and empty existence in a city where the police are often as corrupt as the perpetrators they are meant to pursue.
Director Fernando Meirelles says, "In Cidade de Deus, a sixteen-year-old kid is at the height of his life. He knows that if he is lucky he'll last another three or four years. He knows he is going to die early, and he walks towards his death as if searching for the final fatality.
The wasting of lives is the theme of this film."
The style, pace and subject matter of City of God has been likened to Quentin Tarantino, and also Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas. The comparisons are fair in that the slick hip-ness of the film is seductive and before you know where you are you are caught up in the horrific violence that is part and parcel of this world, a clever visualisation of art imitating life, making for a remarkable movie that raises the pulse but with an edge that reminds us of its sombre message.
Jean Lynch
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