Fandango - Movie Tickets Online
 

Shopping

Travel

Jobs

Bargains

Cars

 

Top News Stories

Join the MO Network Across the Web!


Orbitz Sun and Ski $75 off hotel Exp Nov 12
 

Gear Up With MO'



ON SALE NOW: T-shirts, mugs, mousepads and more

 


Film & Video

 

City of God, 2003, 130 minutes, Rated R 
By Ramona Prioleau

Based on the eye-opening novel of the same name, City of God masterfully depicts the hard scrabble existence in the Cidade de Deus favela, a drug-infested housing project on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro.

City of God
To Buy
Click Here

ADVERTISEMENT

Support MOSAEC, Visit Our Sponsors

With great care, director Fernando Meirelles creates a breathtaking world fraught with internecine strife where innocent lives are cut short, the wicked rule without remorse and a healthy dose of trepidation saves souls.  MORE >>>

 

City of God
© 2003 Miramax Films
A scene from Fernando Meirelles’ City of God

 

 

From its opening montage, the film enthralls with symbolic images of a tethered chicken demonstrating the wherewithal to escape the fate of others lacking the wit to flee an environment boiling over with violence. The visual impact of such an introduction to City of God sets the tone of the film that for over 2 hours artfully contrasts the decisions made by one who uses his gifts to devise a way out of the slum and those that succumb to the lure of the favela's most lucrative enterprise.

City is based on a novel that has 352 characters and 100 different stories that trace the proliferation of crime within the favela. To maintain the essence of the bestseller, Meirelles incorporated a myriad of characters into his film. And while choosing to dramatize City's plot with such a large cast and multiple story lines could have proven disjointed, Meirelles expertly produces a cinematic experience that weaves together the disparate lives of the dwellers and dealers who coexist in a down-trodden neighborhood ignored by the Brazilian social elite.

City's talented cast of ingénues and veterans enrich the film with their raw, passionate and insightful performances that impress long after a scene fades to black. However, the film's featured newcomers Alexandre Rodrigues as Rocket and Leandro Firmino da Hora as Lil Ze shine most brightly. In fact, it's the juxtaposed journeys of the two teenagers that propel the film's narrative. Even though Lil Ze, a callous criminal who kills as easily as he smirks, overshadows the more righteous Rocket who lacks the heart for the thug life, it is in comparisons of the forces that combine to create the Lil Zes and Rockets of the world that the story has its greatest impact.   MORE >>>

 

 

City of God
© 2003 Miramax Films
Alexandre Rodrigues as Rocket in City of God

 

 
 

In one of the film's most compelling thematic contrasts, both Rocket and Lil Ze choose to shoot their way out of the favela. But where Lil Ze brandishes a firearm to thwart those that threaten his dominion, Rocket picks up a camera and provides an insiders view of the favela to the outside world.

Despite a story that is told from the viewpoints of those inside the favela, the film doesn't ignore the exasperating affect outside forces have upon the favela's squalid condition. Although less central to the main narrative, the governmental neglect that shapes destinies of favela dwellers; the middle class drug usage that bolsters demand for narcotics; and the police corruption that facilitates drug usage and gang warfare are not spared the director's focus. In doing so, Meirelles establishes City as not only a well-produced gangland drama, but also an insightful social commentary on the multi-layered nature of the breakdown of societal mores.  M

February 2004

 

 

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

 

 


Also . . .

Film Archive

 
Visit myMOSÆC
News & Blogs
 

Vote for MO'
Make Donation Below


Web

www.mosaec.com

Search Now:

 



|Art & Museums| |Books| |Culture| |Film & Video| |Music|
|Sites, Scenes & Words| |Sports| |Style| |Television| |Theater & Dance|


Offer from MOSAEC Sponsor

 

|BackTalk| |Community| |Archives| |About Us| |Advertise With Us| |Terms & Privacy Policy|

Copyright © 1999 - 2010 RLP Ventures, LLC and/or its suppliers. All rights reserved.
MOSÆC, MOSAEC, mosaec.com, MoQuotable, MoNews and Pfolio  are trademarks of RLP Ventures, LLC.