Logline:
Two boys growing up in a violent neighborhood
of Rio de Janeiro take different paths: one becomes a photographer, the other a
drug dealer.
Cast: Alexandre
Rodrigues, Matheus Nachtergaele, Leandro Firmino
Directed by: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund
There are some days where I'm
just completely unable to put up a blog. Yesterday was just one of those days.
Today will have both Thursday & Friday's reviews though, so I really didn't
miss too much of a beat.
City of God came out in 2002, ranks at #19 on IMDb's Top 250 list, and received a few Academy Award nominations. The Directors have gone
on record saying that if they knew how many times they could have died while
filming this, they'd have scrapped the project.
I'm trying something new
today, cutting the review shorter and getting my point across quicker for an
easier read.
Summary
This is the story of how
organized crime originated in the "City of God" (Cidade de Deus) in
the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It follows the stories of an innocent child
with dreams of one day leaving the hood and becoming a photographer, and a
ruthless child who rises to boss status in the drug trade.
Review
This film follows the very
rare 4-Act-Structure. You hardly ever see this in movies, but when it's done
properly it can be one hell of a ride. It begins with the complete backstory of
both children, Rocket and Li'l Zé. They grow up apart from one another, but
their stories always end up crossing paths during the movie. The second act is Li'l
Zé's rise to power and the growth of Rocket as he becomes an adolescent. The
third act is when a relative peace comes over the streets of Brazil, and the everyday
life of Li'l Zé and Rocket is shown. The fourth is the Drug War. Usually this
structure can be really really long, and it was over 2 hours, but it never once
felt like a long movie because the pace was constantly flowing and things were
always happening to keep me interested.
The main thing that attracted
me in this movie was that it told a story. A true story. Through the use of
voice over, every now and then the viewer gets a break from the constant action
and introduction of characters and the story becomes clear as day. I thought it
was really well done and I've already suggested it to a few of my friends.
Also, like Goodfellas, this is one of the only stories in which time jumps actually make sense and don't hinder the storytelling of the movie.
Topic of the Day
The introduction of a million
characters.
One thing City of God does is introduce a million
characters. Excuse the exaggeration, but I want to get my point across. When I
say a million, I mean A LOT. So many that the whole first act is filled
with characters and only two make it out alive. This is usually a movie killer;
a recipe for disaster. Audiences get confused trying to remember everyone. Who
is important, who isn't?
City of God does it right. They rely heavily on storytelling and backstory. We're
introduced to a ton of characters, but the film's main character Rocket chimes in
with voice overs telling the story making it easier to understand. Every
character is explored in depth, even the ones that die really early. Characters
are not only spoken of, their backgrounds are shown through scenes important to
telling the story. This is the story of organized crime in the City of God, so
it's absolutely necessary to show it on a large scale. It's so impressive when
a movie can introduce so many characters and have an audience interested in
almost all of them.
Consensus
City of God is probably one of the most impressive feats in modern day direction
and character exploration. Using a rare 4-Act-Structure this film never feels long,
confusing or boring. I really do suggest that everyone gives it a try. Movies
like this don't come around too often.
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