When you think of Rio de Janeiro do you envisage images of the vibrant festival? Well, think again. The eponymous City of God is a slum on the outskirts of the city and is the setting for the film depicting author Paulo Lins eight-year experience there.
The film was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Director, and two BAFTAs, where it won Best Editing. The film also received a vast amount of press coverage, as well as a spin-off TV series and film called City of Men. Despite its cult-status in the Americas, it remains a greatly unknown classic in the UK.
The film starts with the main character, Rocket (played by Alexandre Rodrigues), in the middle of stand-off between a gang led by Li’l Ze and the police. The raw, brutal nature of the slum is shown well by this sequence and the chicken amid all the chaos seems just as out of place as the viewer feels in this tense opening.The film employs episodic-flashback and Rocket’s first-person narration in order to enlighten the audience as to how he became ‘piggy in the middle.’
Li’l Ze starts off as a child-prodigy to ‘The Tender Trio’: the leaders and ‘Robin Hoods’ of the slums. The film shows Rocket and Li’l Ze as being two opposite sides of the coin: Rocket trying to escape the slums via becoming a successful photographer, Li’l Ze trying to rule the slum whilst becoming rich dealing drugs. The narration by Rocket also charters the the rise and fall of characters such as Benny, Knockout Ned and Carrot.
Subtle, dry comedy is used throughout the film-watch out for the reference to a banana and a unique way of measuring clothes. Another example is when ‘The Runts’, young children aspiring to the gangster life, rob a local shop and the camera pans to a sign saying “Thank you for choosing us”. These quirks make the film more accessible and prevent it from becoming clichéd. Complexities of gang culture are also explained, so the viewer is not confused as may be the case with gangster-based shows such as The Wire.
This film, simply put, is among one of the best films ever made. Think of it as a Brazilian version of The Godfather. Do not let subtitles deter you from watching this film in all its glory.