#8: City of God (Cidade de Deus - 2002)

City of God is a harrowing look at the slum-horrors of poverty in Rio De Janeiro in the 60's (roughly) . It's a little like looking at the scene of a recent accident, or something equally disturbing. Although it makes your stomach churn, it's just too stimulating (in this case, fascinating) to glance away.


This happens to be another film which I saw the trailer of, and thought, “Blech, it looks a little violent”. Wynand (Damn! We watched so many movies together!) convinced me that the lives of gangsters such as Lil' Dice would be entertaining, and oh boy, was he right! It's been compared to a Brazilian version of Scarface (another of my all-time favourites). Like Tony Montana plunging his face into a bucket-load of blow, City of God doesn't pull any punches and goes straight for it.


The story centres around two boys growing up in this hell-hole who happen to take very different paths in life. The war between gangs rages out of control: there's drugs (not just a little), shoot-outs, busty babes, murder (of course) and rape, bank robberies...it's a little like I imagine Vegas to have been in the 1980's. The film follows Rocket, played by Alexandre Rodrigues, as he forges a life within all the chaos around him through his photographs.



Indeed, after Rocket decides to provide the newspaper with photos of Lil' Dice (now called Zé) riddled with bullet-holes, the story ends with the Runts (a gang, primarily children) strutting around Rio, making a hit list of the dealers they plan to kill.


Quite simply, it's a romp through one of the most interesting settings for a film, ever, that just gets crazier with every blood bath. Other than the euphoria and pleasure it provides, much like I believe a line of cocaine would (according to Wikipedia), it teaches something incredibly important. Instead of merely telling us, documentary-style, it shows us the value of making your own choices in life. No matter how much you think you can rely on someone, and trust is ridiculously important in life, the only person whose actions you can absolutely control, is yourself. 

 UPDATE: 18/21.



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