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| City
of God (Cidade de deus) |
City of God is a Brazilian film that attempts to paint a view of life in the favolos/slums of Rio de Janiero - Cidade de Deus being an area of the city, in the sort of way that Chelsea or Tottenham are part of London...
We follow the experiences of a boy who eventually makes it good - it seems a pity to tack a happy ending onto a powerful look at such poverty, but Miramax is involved with it and commercial factors always resonate. Suffice to say, few other characters except 'our boy' get out of the slums.
The children are racing around from their youth, stealing and robbing to get any food and drink. The slums have a defined sense of caste that pervades the film, but ultimately everyone is unhappy, every one is steeped in a poverty that they cannot escape - apart from our heroic photographer ofcourse, though even he gets his break because the local bad guys are people he knows.
Crime and general baddery is rife in the City of God and most people living there don't make it to twenty years old. Such a topic doesn't deserve the flashy, quick cut movie that this has become. The subject matter is grave and terrible and while watching you feel that this film could have changed the world for the actual resident os of the City of God, instead of setting a shoot-em-up happy-ending in a new location.
In the end City of God is just a backdrop to another Hollywood tale of drugs and guns. A pity.
Further reading:
Macbeth:
Polanski:
Filmography: