City of God

Definitely one of the most explosive, and gripping films ever made. That moment, when a youngster realizes, that only chance for survival is crime..well that moment defines pretty much everything that is wrong with this world. As a man living in a welfare state, this kind of reality feels unbearable.

City of God is a gripping visceral experience of a film that puts American gangster films to shame.

It's at time documentary like portrayal of the intersecting lives of Rocket, Li'l Ze, Carrot, Benny growing up in the cycle of violence and demonstrates in a perfection of the format the way there is no escape from this world.

Fernando Meirelles eye in this film is both stunning and shocking at times I both wanted to but couldn't look away. The use of perspective in peculator was beautiful and entraining and this was often very successfully with use of reflections, from the scenes and in the glistening bodies of the actors.

This was undoubtedly a 5 star film and i am eager to re-watch to deepen my understanding.

This movie is so raw! A must see!

City of God is violent, brutal, and heartbreaking. It is also expertly portrayed, incredibly acted, and masterfully directed. One of the best crime dramas ever made.

[Written Apr. 25, 2023]
Crime dramas are consistently praised as some of the most extraordinary things film and television have to offer. But I generally don't understand the appeal; probably, it's something intrinsic to me. I don't know; many people enjoy them, and the unabashed praise they receive contrasted with my ambivalence towards them is jarring. But there are quite a few things I don't care for, art or not, that many enjoy and find the appeal of obvious. So, I'm used to feeling this way, and when confronted with it, I've learned to accept it as is. And so, I'm going to admit, I find crime dramas largely uninteresting; there is a myriad of things I enjoy far more than _The Godfathers_ and _Goodfellas._

This, on the other hand, is more up my alley. Visually, this is candy for me; it's chaotic, highly stylized, and varied, capturing this surreal element in the violence it portrays. There are quite a few visual moments that I think the film captures eloquently, which I will not soon forget. I can complain that I found certain banalities in its plotting, but ultimately, its more episodic nature works well to create an engaging broader experience.

However, I think the main thing is that I find this trying to make a broader statement about humanity, and I have a baseline understanding of all the characters here. In something like _The Godfathers_, which I get everyone loves, I find the characters dull; watching it, I don't care about any of them, and I struggle to tell them apart. I can't say the same about _Goodfellas_, but I also don't care about the characters in that movie either, and many of them are just caricatures to me.

In contrast, Li'l Zé starts out feeling like a caricature; he's a power-hungry, sadistic maniac, but even with him staying that by the end of the film, I find it elevating him above that. Two things. Li'l Zé has a code that we're shown the effects of. His authoritarian style, executing those who kill in his area as examples, and this style of rule formed a temporary peace, allowing him to sell drugs with little interference. It shows that, despite his sadism, he had a plan and some logical basis for why he should be in charge; it's not a mindless thirst for power. That and Li'l Zé is very insecure, the source for which isn't explored further than he's just ugly, but it's clear from the very beginning, and one could argue that his sadism is a way to cope with his insecurity. He's very egotistical; he has people reading the newspapers not for any tactical reasons, as it seems Rocket assumes, but only to gain an ego boost.

What about the other characters? Well, there are too many to talk about. But, while none of them are "deep" or anything, they are all well-differentiated, and each has their own clear motivations; even if some of them are the same, many of them only want revenge. This desire for vengeance is directed toward different people for different reasons. One thing I've said is that the mark of an excellent large-scale narrative is that you have a baseline understanding of how every character feels about every other character, even if they never interact with them; I find this a solid example of that.

Though again, I think this film makes a statement on the nature of violence, and while I don't believe everything it says is unique, its delivery is far more effective than many other stories I've seen. Ultimately, I think the film is about how resorting to violence can be much easier than resorting to conciliatory action and how easily people can dehumanize themselves and get caught up in violence.

But you know, stuff like _The Godfather_ is about how difficult it is to escape the mob, and _Goodfellas_ is about the same and how easy it is to resort to crime when frustrated with life. But I think this does so far more effectively; in _Goodfellas_, there's a part where a character kills a bunch of people after a heist because they're loose ends; in contrast, here, there are massacres because a war broke out, and it explores how these cycles of violence were birthed.

Stuff like watching Knockout Ned being thrust into the whole situation but attempting to uphold a moral compass, then watching that compass be thrown to the side to accomplish his goals, leading to his own death by the son of a man he killed, is, for me, more compelling than anything in the movies I'm mentioning. And regarding escaping violence, here the characters feel trapped, and for many, crime is a way for them to escape crime; you can argue that the film is cynical, but many others are far more so; anyway, I found the way it outlined its setting pretty believable, but I'm not certain as to how it contrasts to the real-world location.

But also, I find the film providing a solution, which I think brings up a specific idea, to be sucked into violence, you must not value your own life, or your life has to be so poor that it's worth the risk. In the former, the meaning you find in your goal has to outweigh the value of your own life. But in this film specifically, the meaning catalyzes the violence, but that meaning is lost, and the violence becomes mindless: "A year later, nobody remembered how it all started." It becomes a mindless battle between two enemies.

Compared to other stories where I often find the violence senseless and self-indulgent, I think that's pretty cool. But I think the solution to it all is the path Rocket takes; Rocket is confronted with the temptation to avenge his brother, but despite still second-guessing himself, narrating now ("I should have taken this chance to avenge my brother's death"), he doesn't pursue vengeance. The truth is, I find Rocket valuing himself and others as people; he has a passion for something and pursues that as others do vengeance and pleasures. Rocket, while still morally ambiguous, doesn't give fall into the trap others do; he has a job at the supermarket, living out the supposed life of a sucker, and he's mistreated, doesn't get severance, but what does he do. Fall deep into crime? No, there's a very enjoyable comedic misadventure where Rocket tries to find people to rob but keeps encountering people who are too cool. So, he starts trying to make his way up in the journalist world; however, this leads to another thing. Journalism likes to sensationalize violence, and Rocket's relationship with crime greatly assists his success in journalism.

Ultimately, I think Rocket does what Goose would've wanted; Goose didn't want him to fall into crime, so isn't following his passion and eventually escaping the violence far better than attempting to avenge him? In this setting, not giving in to violence is difficult, in the same way that not seeking shortcuts and dishonestly can be. But stopping that violence can be even more complicated; unfortunately, attempting to assuage it is often more demanding, so it compounds.

The writing in this is probably the most incredible I've ever seen in a movie. Acting was fucking perfect. Everything felt real. Every scene with Lil Ze was terrifying. Loved this.

The epic story is told in such detail and shot masterfully that it totally immerses you in the tradegy of having lived through those time in Rio. The magnum opus in masterful storytelling.

A must see în my point of view!

One of my favourite movies gripping story with harsh reality.

Wow. Just wow. This movie was absolutely brilliant! It perfectly showed the endless cycle of death and violence in the ghetto/slums, and it did it in a way that I have never seen before.