Amazon.co.uk Review
Like cinematic dynamite, City of God lights a fuse under its squalid Brazilian ghetto, and we're a captive audience to its violent explosion. The titular favela is home to a seething army of impoverished children who grow, over the film's ambitious 20-year time frame, into cut-throat killers, drug lords and feral survivors. In the vortex of this maelstrom is L'il Z (Leandro Firmino da Hora--like most of the cast, a non-professional actor), self-appointed king of the dealers, determined to eliminate all competition at the expense of his corrupted soul. With enough visual vitality and provocative substance to spark heated debate (and box-office gold) in Brazil, codirectors Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund tackle their subject head on, creating a portrait of youthful anarchy so appalling--and so authentically immediate--that City of God prompted reforms in socioeconomic policy. It's a bracing feat of stylistic audacity, borrowing from a dozen other films to form its own unique identity. You'll flinch, but you can't look away. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
It's all been said.........2007-09-26
The acting is go good it could have been a documentary.
Everything else has been said really
Personified Through The Lives Of Children........2007-09-02
Plot:
In the 1960s, Cidade De Deus is already the most violent favela - neighbourhood - of Rio De Janeiro. Over the years, drugs and guns flood the area, making all-out gang war inevitable. Aspiring photographer Sandro must try to survive and stay clean if he is to escape.
My Review:
Guns, murder, rape, shootings and children? Obviously something not associated with most film drama; especially crime dramas. Here were are given an accomplished photographers graphic childhood - to - adulthood experiences, somehow engraved into your mind, account and involvement with Rio de Janeiro's most deadly of thugs and hoodlums.
Usually regarded as a cheaper and more grittier, Goodfellas, South American style. Where everywhere in the world, there is a director's take on that countries gangster masterpiece, somehow trying to wield Scorsese tradition. Nonetheless, since the audience is on for a two-hour-plus Brazilian movie, which might not show without some strong encouragement. City Of God is the representation of Goodfellas in South America.
Whilst viewing this, you think that you would expect to see a sassy and more exotic Goodfellas styled action crime drama rolled into one with enough blood, maybe some sex, and benefited with an excellent viewing satisfaction. Though when watching this you feel as if a complete nut-case has smacked you three ways across the face. The real astonishing thing is that where in most films, the adults are represented as power hungry, conservative, calm looking, vigilantly violent, and with a side order of repressed aggression; we are given children and teenagers. It feels like the child-staring 'Bugsy Malone' influence has rubbed off onto this Brazilian adaptation of Goodfellas.
Based on Paulo Lins' eyewitness testimony of the bloody turf war, possibly exaggerated, which for years raged in Rio de Janeiro's most notorious slum, City Of God includes enough ineffaceable characters and extraordinary stories to fill several good films. Director Fernando Meirelles shepherds this wealth of material in a dizzying variety of ways, finding - even after two hours of gun battles - new ways to shoot and edit a sequence. Jumping from story to story, showing the needed to know details and not blatantly filling up screen time. The unusual thing to note is that he doesn't focus too much per story, and knows where to tie the knots before it feels dragged.
In addition, with not the influence of the episodic flashback structure, or even because in gurning, gun-toting Zé Pequeno, City Of God does boast a jabbering psychotic that can be as every bit as compelling and unpredictable as Joe Pesci's Tommy. You are left to wonder whom is more the unpredictable and violently edged gangster.
Even with the amazing editing, the film's real ace is the kids. Through an exhaustive series of childhood innocence to gang violence. The scene in which two young kids must decide whether they want to be shot in the hand or the foot contains some of the most powerful acting ever committed to celluloid. Overwhelmingly upsetting and this is the one scene that particularly sticks in frame of mind. Powerful stuff.
Verdict:
Released in 2002, it's still vastly popular amongst the viewing public. If you have the idea of an evening indoors watching gangster classics, this would certainly be one at the top of the pile. 9/10.
ONE OF THE BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR.......2007-08-16
The film, directed by Fernando Meirelles, tells the story of life in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, in an area known as the Cidade De Deus, the City of God. The story is told from the narration of the young photographer, Rocket. The different scenarios of life that make up the wider-story are presented in Pulp Fiction style chapters, complete with on-screen titles for each different story component. The story covers all the facets of the life, charting the growth of several key members of the gangs from childhood through to young adulthood, with their transformation from young hoodlums to local drugs barons. The final parts of the story focus on the battle within the Cidade De Deus between two different groups, when business and personal matters lead to an unavoidable confrontation. And what a confrontation it is, although details will not be given away here. The result is a powerful telling of life based around real-life events.
Martin Scorsese seems to have a heavy influence on the direction of this picture, with many moments looking familiar to fans of the legendary American filmmaker. Close ups, sweeping scene shots, freeze-and-zoom shots, and a frenzied handheld approach are all trademarks that will be recognisably traceable to Scorsese, having been used throughout his career. Many shots remind the viewer of Scorsese's narrative dialogue-camera relationship in Goodfellas, in which the camera was used to brilliant effect to highlight the main points in the script. This technique is used heavily in the first twenty minutes of Cidade De Deus, with the freeze frame trick being used to introduce the story's main characters alongside the dialogue of narrator, Rocket.
Throughout the film one cannot help but watch a scene and think, 'I've seen that in Raging Bull, Goodfellas, or Casino', and this may make some look less favourably on the film's direction. However, it is not fair to consider this 'a Brazilian Goodfellas', as one critic has observed. The story has parallels - the underlying ideas of gangsters, drugs and violence -, the direction is similar, and the story is told with narration, much like Ray Liotta's role in Scorsese's epic. But to regard this film in terms of what styles it repeats or nods it's hat to, is to be very ignorant. Fernando Meirelles, has done a wonderfully hypnotic job of blending the old styles, and bringing them up to date with flashy and sometimes dangerously kinetic direction and editing. Look only to the leaving-party scene in which strobe lighting is used to extraordinary effect, almost suffocating the story below a bombardment on the visual senses. Think of a crossover between the visual energy of the Matrix and the violence of the club scene in Bad Boys.
Cidade De Deus is much more than a directorial assault on the senses. As Raul Walsh said if you don't have a story you have nothing, and many flashy Hollywood films have fallen short in using 'ultra-modern' direction to disguise the fact that no substantial story exists underneath. Cidade De Deus is most brilliant in that it combines directorial and editorial brilliance with a story that is almost second to none in recent times. Only the true greats manage to cater to these two needs of cinema, and this is one that does. The direction is amazing, but not to disguise the story flaws, and the story is brilliant, but does not overwhelm directorial originality. But simply, Cidade De Deus is a perfect film for avid fans of cinematography, and those just in search of two hours of a bloody good story.
I cannot decide yet if I would consider this better than Amores Perros, but it is certainly not inferior. The at-the-same-time stylish and brutal visuals of Amores Perros are replaced by a grittier, more hands on approach to the subject. Whilst in Amores Perros the characters took precedent, in Cidade De Deus the location is as big a character as those who live there. As a result we get a much greater feeling of the environment in which the characters exist, and so it is perhaps easier to empathise, and/or sympathise with them. As the official press synopsis says, Cidade De Deus is a character, but is a place not a person. Amores Perros triumphs in creating relationships between the audience and the characters, as it concentrates for a long time on relatively few people, each of whom we grow to know and ultimately care about, which is important for the emotional impact of the film. Cidade De Deus deals with dozens, even hundreds, of characters, and so it is only a minority that we become attached to. This means that while the film leaves a lasting impact we are not left with the same inquisitiveness about the future for the characters that we meet in Amores Perros. Both films leave open ends, but Cidade De Deus feels closed. Whether you consider this a good or bad thing is a matter for personal choice.
Cidade De Deus is essential viewing, and is cinema at its most brilliant. It will of course feel the wrath of critics who will dwell on the almost unimaginably high body count, but there are always those who will reject violence in the movies. In fact the violence in Cidade De Deus, even the apocalyptic ending, is not as raw and bloody as many will expect. Blood spilling is a rare sight, and the violence rests mostly, but not always, on choreography rather than in your face bloodshed. The result is violence, but it is often so artistic that it looks beautiful rather than deterring. Like Scorsese's Taxi Driver the violence is abhorrent, but admirable from a cinematic perspective.
In short, this is a superb achievement, and is easily one of the best films of the year, and of the decade so far. Like it's predecessors, this is the latest film to come out of South America that indicates the emergence of major new talent in filmmaking. Hollywood beware.
A Real Eye Opener.......2007-07-11
I can safely say that 'City of God' is the most beautiful yet ruthless film I have ever seen. It seems strange to use a word such as 'beautiful' given the nature of the film, however, certain parts of the film showed courage and faith in humanity, regardless of the dreadful surroundings. Without wishing to get too emotional here, there is something truly special, even indescribable about this film. For whatever reason, I have previously avoided 'foreign' films. Big Mistake. 'City of God' was the slap in the face that I needed, and my mind has officially been opened.
The outstanding feature of this film I feel, is the absloute commitment to portraying life in the 'Favellas'. Whilst, thankfully, that is not a life I have experienced, I got a strong feeling that this was a very true representation of it. Nothing here is sugar-coated, it's in-your-face brutality from the get go. The directors have displayed fearlessness and valour in making this film, and they deserve all of the credit they have received.
Of course, most of us like to see romance and humour in films now and then, but films like 'City of God' in my opinion, are far more enjoyable. After watching, I felt both moved and lucky, and also that I had learned something new - feelings rarely witnessed after our traditional Rom-Coms.
I never like to explain the story for fear of ruining the film, but this is one that you just have to see.
Aside from simply enjoying this film and learning some new things, it has really opened my eyes to try films from other countries, films that perhaps aren't such 'easy' watching, but ones that require thought. I am now off to search for some more 'World Cinema'!
A must-see movie for lovers of world cinema.......2007-05-31
Not only is this a very well filmed, acted and directed movie, I liked the way the story was told, the small sub-stories the protagonist stops to tell or return to. Moral dilemas are are brutally portrayed yet easy for the viewer to identify with. In fact, though there are probably great documentaries about the favellas and gang war, none will make you feel part of these people's lives the way this movies does
The blood and gore has to be portrayed to be truthful to the subject, and this is as tastefully done as possible, some scenes are very hard to watch for entirely different reasons. In one scene a child very reluctantly kills another to prove he is ready to join the gang, while others laugh.
The bonus documentary about shanty town wasfare is definitely worth a watch
Amazon.co.uk Review
Like cinematic dynamite, City of God lights a fuse under its squalid Brazilian ghetto, and we're a captive audience to its violent explosion. The titular favela is home to a seething army of impoverished children who grow, over the film's ambitious 20-year time frame, into cut-throat killers, drug lords and feral survivors. In the vortex of this maelstrom is L'il Z (Leandro Firmino da Hora--like most of the cast, a non-professional actor), self-appointed king of the dealers, determined to eliminate all competition at the expense of his corrupted soul. With enough visual vitality and provocative substance to spark heated debate (and box-office gold) in Brazil, codirectors Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund tackle their subject head on, creating a portrait of youthful anarchy so appalling--and so authentically immediate--that City of God prompted reforms in socioeconomic policy. It's a bracing feat of stylistic audacity, borrowing from a dozen other films to form its own unique identity. You'll flinch, but you can't look away. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
It's all been said.........2007-09-26
The acting is go good it could have been a documentary.
Everything else has been said really
Personified Through The Lives Of Children........2007-09-02
Plot:
In the 1960s, Cidade De Deus is already the most violent favela - neighbourhood - of Rio De Janeiro. Over the years, drugs and guns flood the area, making all-out gang war inevitable. Aspiring photographer Sandro must try to survive and stay clean if he is to escape.
My Review:
Guns, murder, rape, shootings and children? Obviously something not associated with most film drama; especially crime dramas. Here were are given an accomplished photographers graphic childhood - to - adulthood experiences, somehow engraved into your mind, account and involvement with Rio de Janeiro's most deadly of thugs and hoodlums.
Usually regarded as a cheaper and more grittier, Goodfellas, South American style. Where everywhere in the world, there is a director's take on that countries gangster masterpiece, somehow trying to wield Scorsese tradition. Nonetheless, since the audience is on for a two-hour-plus Brazilian movie, which might not show without some strong encouragement. City Of God is the representation of Goodfellas in South America.
Whilst viewing this, you think that you would expect to see a sassy and more exotic Goodfellas styled action crime drama rolled into one with enough blood, maybe some sex, and benefited with an excellent viewing satisfaction. Though when watching this you feel as if a complete nut-case has smacked you three ways across the face. The real astonishing thing is that where in most films, the adults are represented as power hungry, conservative, calm looking, vigilantly violent, and with a side order of repressed aggression; we are given children and teenagers. It feels like the child-staring 'Bugsy Malone' influence has rubbed off onto this Brazilian adaptation of Goodfellas.
Based on Paulo Lins' eyewitness testimony of the bloody turf war, possibly exaggerated, which for years raged in Rio de Janeiro's most notorious slum, City Of God includes enough ineffaceable characters and extraordinary stories to fill several good films. Director Fernando Meirelles shepherds this wealth of material in a dizzying variety of ways, finding - even after two hours of gun battles - new ways to shoot and edit a sequence. Jumping from story to story, showing the needed to know details and not blatantly filling up screen time. The unusual thing to note is that he doesn't focus too much per story, and knows where to tie the knots before it feels dragged.
In addition, with not the influence of the episodic flashback structure, or even because in gurning, gun-toting Zé Pequeno, City Of God does boast a jabbering psychotic that can be as every bit as compelling and unpredictable as Joe Pesci's Tommy. You are left to wonder whom is more the unpredictable and violently edged gangster.
Even with the amazing editing, the film's real ace is the kids. Through an exhaustive series of childhood innocence to gang violence. The scene in which two young kids must decide whether they want to be shot in the hand or the foot contains some of the most powerful acting ever committed to celluloid. Overwhelmingly upsetting and this is the one scene that particularly sticks in frame of mind. Powerful stuff.
Verdict:
Released in 2002, it's still vastly popular amongst the viewing public. If you have the idea of an evening indoors watching gangster classics, this would certainly be one at the top of the pile. 9/10.
ONE OF THE BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR.......2007-08-16
The film, directed by Fernando Meirelles, tells the story of life in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, in an area known as the Cidade De Deus, the City of God. The story is told from the narration of the young photographer, Rocket. The different scenarios of life that make up the wider-story are presented in Pulp Fiction style chapters, complete with on-screen titles for each different story component. The story covers all the facets of the life, charting the growth of several key members of the gangs from childhood through to young adulthood, with their transformation from young hoodlums to local drugs barons. The final parts of the story focus on the battle within the Cidade De Deus between two different groups, when business and personal matters lead to an unavoidable confrontation. And what a confrontation it is, although details will not be given away here. The result is a powerful telling of life based around real-life events.
Martin Scorsese seems to have a heavy influence on the direction of this picture, with many moments looking familiar to fans of the legendary American filmmaker. Close ups, sweeping scene shots, freeze-and-zoom shots, and a frenzied handheld approach are all trademarks that will be recognisably traceable to Scorsese, having been used throughout his career. Many shots remind the viewer of Scorsese's narrative dialogue-camera relationship in Goodfellas, in which the camera was used to brilliant effect to highlight the main points in the script. This technique is used heavily in the first twenty minutes of Cidade De Deus, with the freeze frame trick being used to introduce the story's main characters alongside the dialogue of narrator, Rocket.
Throughout the film one cannot help but watch a scene and think, 'I've seen that in Raging Bull, Goodfellas, or Casino', and this may make some look less favourably on the film's direction. However, it is not fair to consider this 'a Brazilian Goodfellas', as one critic has observed. The story has parallels - the underlying ideas of gangsters, drugs and violence -, the direction is similar, and the story is told with narration, much like Ray Liotta's role in Scorsese's epic. But to regard this film in terms of what styles it repeats or nods it's hat to, is to be very ignorant. Fernando Meirelles, has done a wonderfully hypnotic job of blending the old styles, and bringing them up to date with flashy and sometimes dangerously kinetic direction and editing. Look only to the leaving-party scene in which strobe lighting is used to extraordinary effect, almost suffocating the story below a bombardment on the visual senses. Think of a crossover between the visual energy of the Matrix and the violence of the club scene in Bad Boys.
Cidade De Deus is much more than a directorial assault on the senses. As Raul Walsh said if you don't have a story you have nothing, and many flashy Hollywood films have fallen short in using 'ultra-modern' direction to disguise the fact that no substantial story exists underneath. Cidade De Deus is most brilliant in that it combines directorial and editorial brilliance with a story that is almost second to none in recent times. Only the true greats manage to cater to these two needs of cinema, and this is one that does. The direction is amazing, but not to disguise the story flaws, and the story is brilliant, but does not overwhelm directorial originality. But simply, Cidade De Deus is a perfect film for avid fans of cinematography, and those just in search of two hours of a bloody good story.
I cannot decide yet if I would consider this better than Amores Perros, but it is certainly not inferior. The at-the-same-time stylish and brutal visuals of Amores Perros are replaced by a grittier, more hands on approach to the subject. Whilst in Amores Perros the characters took precedent, in Cidade De Deus the location is as big a character as those who live there. As a result we get a much greater feeling of the environment in which the characters exist, and so it is perhaps easier to empathise, and/or sympathise with them. As the official press synopsis says, Cidade De Deus is a character, but is a place not a person. Amores Perros triumphs in creating relationships between the audience and the characters, as it concentrates for a long time on relatively few people, each of whom we grow to know and ultimately care about, which is important for the emotional impact of the film. Cidade De Deus deals with dozens, even hundreds, of characters, and so it is only a minority that we become attached to. This means that while the film leaves a lasting impact we are not left with the same inquisitiveness about the future for the characters that we meet in Amores Perros. Both films leave open ends, but Cidade De Deus feels closed. Whether you consider this a good or bad thing is a matter for personal choice.
Cidade De Deus is essential viewing, and is cinema at its most brilliant. It will of course feel the wrath of critics who will dwell on the almost unimaginably high body count, but there are always those who will reject violence in the movies. In fact the violence in Cidade De Deus, even the apocalyptic ending, is not as raw and bloody as many will expect. Blood spilling is a rare sight, and the violence rests mostly, but not always, on choreography rather than in your face bloodshed. The result is violence, but it is often so artistic that it looks beautiful rather than deterring. Like Scorsese's Taxi Driver the violence is abhorrent, but admirable from a cinematic perspective.
In short, this is a superb achievement, and is easily one of the best films of the year, and of the decade so far. Like it's predecessors, this is the latest film to come out of South America that indicates the emergence of major new talent in filmmaking. Hollywood beware.
A Real Eye Opener.......2007-07-11
I can safely say that 'City of God' is the most beautiful yet ruthless film I have ever seen. It seems strange to use a word such as 'beautiful' given the nature of the film, however, certain parts of the film showed courage and faith in humanity, regardless of the dreadful surroundings. Without wishing to get too emotional here, there is something truly special, even indescribable about this film. For whatever reason, I have previously avoided 'foreign' films. Big Mistake. 'City of God' was the slap in the face that I needed, and my mind has officially been opened.
The outstanding feature of this film I feel, is the absloute commitment to portraying life in the 'Favellas'. Whilst, thankfully, that is not a life I have experienced, I got a strong feeling that this was a very true representation of it. Nothing here is sugar-coated, it's in-your-face brutality from the get go. The directors have displayed fearlessness and valour in making this film, and they deserve all of the credit they have received.
Of course, most of us like to see romance and humour in films now and then, but films like 'City of God' in my opinion, are far more enjoyable. After watching, I felt both moved and lucky, and also that I had learned something new - feelings rarely witnessed after our traditional Rom-Coms.
I never like to explain the story for fear of ruining the film, but this is one that you just have to see.
Aside from simply enjoying this film and learning some new things, it has really opened my eyes to try films from other countries, films that perhaps aren't such 'easy' watching, but ones that require thought. I am now off to search for some more 'World Cinema'!
A must-see movie for lovers of world cinema.......2007-05-31
Not only is this a very well filmed, acted and directed movie, I liked the way the story was told, the small sub-stories the protagonist stops to tell or return to. Moral dilemas are are brutally portrayed yet easy for the viewer to identify with. In fact, though there are probably great documentaries about the favellas and gang war, none will make you feel part of these people's lives the way this movies does
The blood and gore has to be portrayed to be truthful to the subject, and this is as tastefully done as possible, some scenes are very hard to watch for entirely different reasons. In one scene a child very reluctantly kills another to prove he is ready to join the gang, while others laugh.
The bonus documentary about shanty town wasfare is definitely worth a watch
UK DVD:
- City of Vice - Series 1 [2008]
- Clockwork Orange [1972]
- Cracker Complete Collection Box Set
- Crash [2004] [2005]
- Cruel Intentions [1999]
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 1 - Part 1 [2001]
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 5 - Part 2
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 6 Part 1
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 6 Part 2 [2001]
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 7 Part 1
UK DVD List
UK DVD
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