Movie Review: City of God

by: Mark Arellano

Violence and bloodshed rules the mean streets of the Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, or slum city. Drug trade and betrayal are commonplace and the way of life in the favelas called the City of God. As the rest of his friends work for drug dealers and killing one another, Wilson Rodrigues, nicknamed Rocket, dreams of becoming a professional photographer and getting out of the City of God. It won’t be an easy task for Rocket as he witnesses the deaths and dirty business of the City of God.

The story begins with the introduction into the life of the hoodlums in the City of God, and the killing and shooting that goes with the defense of every man for himself. A hold-up for money ensues regarding Rocket’s brother, Goose, and a robbery in a sleazy motel goes drastically wrong and becomes known as the bloodiest massacre in the slum. After an adolescence of crime and killing, Goose is murdered by a fellow hoodlum, known as Li’l Dice. As Rocket grows up living in the City of God, he deals with drug trafficking and usage, sexual encounters, and constant killing in the streets. When the local drug lords are killed off by Li’l Dice, known as Li’l Ze, a harsh reality of the slums is presented.

Rocket gets an internship at the newspaper that offers him the life and career he yearns to lead, and his ticket to this lifestyle is his access into the slum drug and blood filled life of the favelas. With the picture taken and direct access to Li’l Ze, his way out of this life is to capture it on film.

Fernando Meirelles’s City of God is rated R for adult situations, adult language and gratuitous gore, and is subtitled from its original Brazilian Portuguese version. The violence and corruption portrayed in this film are grueling and haunting truths of life in a Brazilian ghetto. The manner in which the story is told flows with ease and an understanding of the point, even if it is in another language, one feels the power and spirit of the movie.

The corruption of the police and the overpowering of gangs gives a view of the political stand point in that certain area of the world, and shows that there are many ways of life, whether immoral or moral, depending on the viewpoints of an individual or group. City of God is a powerful film that delivers an adrenaline rush of excitement with its gory shooting scenes and excessive drug use. The acting is riveting with the passion and hate in each character and his story. City of God is a blood and violence-drenched film that is playing currently and was nominated for four Academy Awards including: achievement in directing, best adapting screenplay, achievement in cinematography, and best film editing. City of God is highly recommended if violence, opposing political views points, and the story of a young boy wanting to leave behind his past and start a new one are of interest.