Film: Cidade de Deus
Director: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund
Country: Brazil
Released: May 2002
Runtime: 130 minutes
Genre: Gangster Movie
Studio: O2 Filmes
Influenced: Walter Salles, Pablo Larraín, Alejandro Landes, Ciro Guerra, Alejandro Amenábar
Based on the novel of the same name by Paulo Lins, City of God was conceived by the author as a semi-autobiographical account of growing up in the Cidade de Deus suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian directors Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, along with screenwriter Bráulio Mantovani, worked together to convert the novel to the screen, preserving its gritty and realistic portrayal of life in the favelas (shantytowns) of Rio. The narrative unfolds across two timelines, one at the end of the 1960s and another at the beginning of the 1980s, showing how Rio's gang culture has evolved during that interval of time. An early scene in the 1960s presents a more innocent scene of young boys playing football on dusty fields, compared to the dense urban environment of the favela in which the main 80s storyline takes place. The film is a devastatingly raw depiction of the challenges faced by the residents, particularly the many young kids drawn into a life of crime.
City of God has a dynamic narrative structure, using flashbacks and rapid editing to give a mosaic-like view of the characters and events. The central character and sometime narrator is Rocket (Buscapé), who aspires to be a photographer but is inadvertently pulled into the favela's violent world of crime. The film explores the formation of the Runts gang, led by ruthless gangster Li'l Zé (Zé Pequeno) and his partner, Benny (Phellipe Haagensen). I'm particularly fond of the character of Benny, the cool guy who everyone loves and who brings together various groups of people from his community – the soul crowd, the samba crowd, the church crowd and the "groovy" crowd – at his leaving party. Unlike the bloodthirsty Li'l Zé, Benny grows tired of life as a gangster and attempts to escape with his girlfriend, Angélica (Alice Braga), to a farm in the country where he hopes to raise chickens and listen to rock music.
Many of the actors in the film were residents of Rio's favelas, adding a level of authenticity to the performances. The use of non-professional actors from the city's more dangerous neighbourhoods, coupled with a documentary-style approach, were two of the movie's major innovations. The filmmakers faced numerous challenges during production, including security concerns in the actual favelas where they filmed, and had to work closely with local communities to gain trust and cooperation. When I visited Rio on my travels in 2006, I remember there were companies offering bus tours of the favelas, but poverty tourism isn't my thing. City of God, and its groundbreaking depiction of life in the favelas, was no doubt largely responsible for this strange tourist phenomenon. The directors were very careful, however, not to glamourise violence in the film. One particularly harrowing moment is the scene in which L'il Zé and his gang corner two kids and ask them whether they'd prefer to be shot in the foot or hand. This is followed by an execution scene that is genuinely harrowing to watch.
Amid City of God's generally oppressive atmosphere of violence and death, Rocket's story provides a small ray of hope and a narrative of redemption via artistic expression. Rocket continues to pursue his passion for photography, offering us and his editors at the newspaper a unique lens on favela life. Another sympathetic character in the film is Mané Galinha (Knockout Ned), portrayed by Brazilian musician and actor Seu Jorge. Mané Galinha is a character who, initially, is depicted as a law-abiding citizen, but who becomes entangled in the favela's ongoing cycle of revenge and retribution. City of God received widespread critical acclaim and numerous awards, including Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. It also won several international film festival awards, including a World Cinema Audience Award at Sundance. The film brought global attention to Brazilian cinema and Latin American filmmaking in general, paving the way for other Latin American films to gain international recognition.
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