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CITY
OF GOD
Cidade de Deus
But
more than just showing the way violence begets violence, this film
shows violence to be as addictive as any drug. The more violence
is used in this film, the greater the thirst for violence by the
hoods, until their thirst will never be quenched -- except by death.
Review by Darrel Manson
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CREDITS
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 Directed
by Kátia Lund and Fernando Meirelles
Novel
by Paulo Lins
Screenplay bt Bráulio Mantovani
Matheus Nachtergaele .... Sandro Cenoura
Seu Jorge .... Mane Galinha
Alexandre Rodrigues .... Buscape
Leandro Firmino da Hora .... Ze Pequeno
Philippe Haagensen .... Bene
Johnathan Haagensen .... Cabeleira
Douglas Silva .... Dadinho
Roberta Rodriguez Silvia .... Berenice
Alice Braga .... Angelica
Gero Camilo .... Paraíba
Darlan Cunha .... Filé com Fritas
Renato de Souza .... Marreco
Karina Falcão .... Mulher do Paraíba
Graziela Moretto .... Marina
Produced
by
Andrea Barata Ribeiro .... producer
Marc Beauchamps .... co-producer
Daniel Filho .... co-producer
Hank Levine .... co-producer
Vincent Maraval .... co-producer
Mauricio Andrade Ramos .... producer
Donald Ranvaud .... co-producer
Juliette Renaud .... co-producer
Walter Salles .... co-producer
Elisa Tolomelli .... executive producer
Original Music by Ed Cortês and Antonio Pinto
Cinematography by César Charlone
Film Editing by Daniel Rezende
Production Design by Tulé Peak
Costume Design by Bia Salgado and Inês Salgado
MPAA:
Rated R for strong brutal violence, sexuality, drug content
and language.
Runtime: 130 min / Canada:135 min (Toronto Film Festival)
For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM,
and MPAA.ORG.
Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG
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TRAILERS
AND CLIPS
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Trailers
-click here
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Trailer:
QuickTime,
Various
International
Trailer:
Windows
Media Player
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CD
SOUNDTRACK
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 City
of God
Various Artists - Soundtrack - 2003
In telling the story of two friends from a tough Rio de Janeiro barrio
whose lives can never seem to escape the favela where they were born
and raised, the acclaimed film by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia
Lund has drawn comparisons to such modern touchstones as Martin Scorsese's
GoodFellas. Taking his inspiration from the filmmakers' daring gambit
to cast real people in the roles and the film's '60s-'70s milieu,
composer Antonio Pinto (assisted by partner Ed Córtes) has
concocted a smart, rhythmically intoxicating cocktail of Brazilian
jazz and samba, shaken with a little '70s American funk and R&B
and served with cool, tropical flair. Those various styles often melt
into each other with a liberating sense of postmodern possibility,
giving listeners an experience that's as exotic as it is deceptively
familiar, the worthy equatorial flip side of David Holmes's jazz-funk
collaborations with Steven Soderbergh on Out of Sight and Ocean's
Eleven. --Jerry McCulley |
1. Meu
nome e Ze
2. Vida de otario
3. Funk da Virada
4. Estoria de Boca
5. Na rua, na chuva, na fazenda - (Casinha de Sepe)
6. A Transa
7. Metamorfose Ambulante
8. Nem vem que nao tem
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9. Preciso
me encontrar
10. Alvorada
11. Convite para Vida
12. No caminho do bem
13. Morte Ze Pequeno
14. Batucada (remix by DJ Camilo Rocha & DJ YAH, of original music
by Antonio Pinto and Ed Cortes)
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POSTER
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No
available poster as of January 31, 2003
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BOOK
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Cidade
de Deus : romance
by Paulo Lins
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AVAILABILITY
ON VIDEO AND DVD
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CHECK
AVAILABILITY AND PRICING OF THIS MOVIE ON VIDEO OR DVD.
Just type in movie title and click go.
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SYNOPSIS
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Welcome to the world's most notorious slum: Rio de Janeiro's "City
of God". A place where combat photographers fear to tread, where
police rarely go, and residents are lucky if they live to the age
of 20. This is the true story of a young man who grew up on these
streets and whose ambition as a photographer is the world's window
in and ultimately may be his only way out. |
Darrel
has an incredible love and interest in the cinematic arts.
His reviews usually include independent and significantly important
film.
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 Life
is hard in almost any slum. People with very little or nothing are
put there so the rest of society doesn't have to see them. Such a
place is the City of God, a neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. There
children grow up amidst unspeakable violence and soon assume a life
of violence themselves. It is ironic to call this slum City of God,
because God seems to be so absent.
 Viewers
should be warned: the violence in this film is absolutely overwhelming.
The violence is both graphic and copious. It begins at a fairly normal
level, but it crescendos throughout the film. The impact of the violence
is magnified in that it so often involves children -- both as victims
and as perpetrators. It is hard to spend the time in the theater with
all this violence washing over you.
But even with all this violence, this film is a voice to be heard.
 We
follow a few of the residents of the City of God from childhood into
young adulthood. They learn from their older brothers that you can
get money through theft and violence. They also see that the real
way to money is through selling drugs. A few keep pushing the violence
to new levels. It's not just about the material things they can have.
They are seeking to be the bosses of the neighborhood. They want power.
They want control. They want to be feared.
 As
the film progresses, we see how violence begets more violence. Often
when violence is used, it just sets up a situation of revenge when
more violence will come. Or perhaps, the violence helps to teach others
that this is the way to get what you want.
But more than just showing the way violence begets violence, this
film shows violence to be as addictive as any drug. The more violence
is used in this film, the greater the thirst for violence by the hoods,
until their thirst will never be quenched -- except by death.
 The
growth and addiction of violence is not limited to the City of God
or even to slums in all countries. Certainly films continually become
more violent, leading other film makers to push the on screen violence
a little further. That City of God's violence constantly is hard to
watch, I think, is a credit to the film because violence should not
be comfortable to watch.
 And
perhaps there is a lesson in City of God about the violence that abounds
in the geopolitical realm as well. In studying history, it seems that
each war sets up the conditions for the next. Each new war brings
new technologies of violence. The evil that we see in City of God
mirrors the evil of violence that takes place throughout the world
year in and year out as tribes and nations use violent means to seek
power and control over others.
In one scene in the film, just before the gang war begins, one of
the gangs stop to pray the Lord's Prayer. In the midst of so much
violence and hatred, this almost seems to be blasphemy. But in a world
where suicide bombers claim the name of Allah for their actions or
where God is invoked by generals or presidents as being on our side,
such a scene only reminds us of how far from the true City of God
we still are. |
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PHOTOS
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Continue:
Review
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About this Film -click here
Spiritual Connections -click here
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