City of God

I know, I know. I'm like the last person on earth to see this movie. I've meant to, for a long time. Ever since it was first released to US theaters in 2002, as a matter of fact. I was in college at Arizona State, and thanks to an abundance of time and theaters, I saw an enormous amount of movies during my undergrad career. My friends and I had every intention of going to see City of God (2002). But something would come up. Change of plans at the last minute. The showing is sold out. We had even intended to see it several months after its initial release, when it was playing at a local second-run theater. Once again, something came up. I suppose we all have those films from time to time in our lives. The ones we've been meaning to see, but just hadn't gotten around to it. City of God had followed me for 7 years, always lurking. I'd see it in the video store (ha! back when I went to video stores. ah, the memories), think, "Hey, I should pick that one up," but always move on and find something else that commanded my viewing attention for that night. After a while, it became psychological: I feared that to see this film after so long and so many failed attempts would work some kind of evil mojo on me. Or maybe I was just worried that I'd hyped it up too much in my mind. Or maybe it was just too depressing to ever want to actually watch. But eventually, it made its way to the top of my queue (I had to fight the urge to bury it back to #50 or so, even until the final hour).

So, let me tell you: I was not wrong, it is depressing. But it's also good, and epic, with brilliant cinematography and excellent music. But let's not ever forget that it's depressing as hell, and a whole shit ton of people die, and I'm reconsidering ever stepping foot in Brazil.

The story centers around Rocket, a boy growing up in the Rio de Janeiro slum known as the City of God. We first meet Rocket on the streets of a newly founded City of God in the 1960s. The slum starts as a government refugee camp for those escaping floods elsewhere in Brazil. The poor and disaffected youth of the ghetto begin to form small gangs aimed at petty crime: gas truck holdups, hotel robberies, and the like. While Rocket steers clear of the gangs, he is nonetheless caught up in the burgeoning violence through his older brother and other friends who have chosen the path of crime. Meanwhile, Li'l Dice, a small-time hood, dreams of one day ruling City of God with an iron fist. He begins very young, assimilating those thugs that he can and eliminating those that he cannot. As the '60s turn into the '70s, Li'l Dice, transformed now into the drug boss Li'l Ze, continues to use brutality and murder to secure more territory in the City of God, cementing his place as Rio's drug kingpin. The small voice of reason in Li'l Ze's operation is Benny, who keeps Ze's bubbling insanity from overflowing, and keeps the peace with the remaining drug lords in the city. Our narrator Rocket works menial jobs, dreaming of being a photographer, trying to steer clear of Ze and the drug underworld. But Rocket always seems to be caught in the middle of things, toeing a very dangerous line between rival gangs. As the '70s give way to the '80s, the City of God turns into a bloodbath, as Ze goes up against his remaining rival gang, led by Carrot and Rio's underground hero Knockout Ned.

This is a very solid movie all around, with a script that manages to be complex but never tangential. Braulio Mantovani's writing is very tight, with sparse dialogue, backstories, and a non-linear progression. In the hands of director Fernando Meirelles and cinematographer Cesar Charlone (who would later team up for the grimly beautiful The Constant Gardener), Mantovani's script crackles with life. The film is overmodulated, gritty, yet vibrant, with a moderate reliance on blue filters to give a somber pall to the City of God that underscores the deep tragedy of Rio's drug world. The score and music for City of God are a crazy conglomeration of traditional Brazilian bossa nova and jazz with American standards from the period, such as James Brown's "Sex Machine" and Carl Douglas's "Kung Fu Fighting".

I'm glad I saw City of God, finally, after years of it haunting my viewing habits. It was a good film, very well executed, with some really brilliant camera work. That said, I don't think I'd ever watch it a second time. It's extremely violent and incredibly depressing. And while it's by no means a short movie, it feels even longer than it is because of the complexity of the non-linear plot, and the unraveling of the various storylines.

Storyline & plot: 8/10
Cinematography & effects: 9/10
Music & mood: 7/10
Performances: 7/10

The Reverend says: 7/10