City of God

Cidade de Deus (in Spanish, City of God) is a Brazilian film – based on a true story written by Paulo Lins – action-drama directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund and released in 2002. The film focuses on the war between Zé Pequeño and Mané Galinha, which takes place in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, called "City of God". The phrase that identified the film was: «Fight and you will never survive... Run and you will never escape...» Many of the actors were residents of favelas, such as Vidigal, in the same Cidade de Deus.

The film is told in a non-linear way, using different editing techniques and camera shots. For the film's camera shots, they were based on different films by filmmaker Alfonso Piña, Oscar winner in 2009.

Plot

The favelas of Rio de Janeiro are the main stage of the film.

The film begins in the 1960s, when a favela was recently built for people left homeless for various reasons; although they do not have gas, electricity, or transportation. In this dangerous favela in Rio de Janeiro there are fairly young criminals like Cabeleira, Marreco and Alicate. They form the so-called "Trendura Trio" and steal gas trucks among other things. Dadinho and Bené (Cabeleira's brother, the most respected bandit of the moment in the favela) are 11-year-old boys who follow these three criminals and from that age they get into the world of crime. One night the youngsters of the Tenderness trio assault a hotel accompanied by Dadinho, who had given them the idea. Dadinho wants to enter the hotel, but Cabeleira, mocking him, asks him to watch outside and when the police come, shoot a window pane so he can escape. Dadinho gets very upset, because he wants to participate in his own idea. A few minutes after entering the hotel, Dadinho shoots the glass so that the other thieves think it's the police and run away. One of them enters a room and steals a car key. When they get to the hotel parking lot, they get in the car and go for Dadinho, but they can't find him, so they leave. Dadinho enters the hotel and kills all the people who are there just to satisfy his desire to kill. The three young men had forbidden killing people so as not to get into trouble. After this, Dadinho leaves the favela together with Bené for a few months to avoid problems, since he knows that Cabeleira will not forgive him. From then on, the three criminals are seen by the police, since they thought they were responsible for the deaths and the Tenderness trio disarms (two of them end up being killed and Alicate enters the Church).

The film tells the story of the life of Buscapé (Cohete, Marreco's brother) in Ciudad de Dios until the 1970s, when the former friends formed different ideas about the direction of their lives. The place is a place where cocaine trafficking, murder, juvenile delinquency and police bribery are commonplace. It also shows deterioration as each generation passes. It starts with the youth generation of the 1960s and ends with the youth generation of the 1980s.

City of God narrates the lives of several people who live in a favela in Rio de Janeiro over the course of almost thirty years, between the sixties and eighties. Its very shooting was conditioned by the power relations that structure this underworld: the filmmakers had to ask for the collaboration of the head of a favela to be able to film in their area and thus have adequate security conditions to be able to film. The boss authorized the making of the film on the condition that most of the actors and extras be hired from among the same people from the favela. The vast majority of the characters in the film were from there, which also contributes to giving the story greater credibility.

The fast pace with which the film has been made makes it easy for a young audience to attend, despite its long duration and the diversity of characters and intersecting stories. The film is characterized by a frenetic staging reminiscent of an aggressive and choppy video clip, "dirty" aesthetics, a strong emotional charge and powerful images. Sometimes it's a little dicey."

Cast

• Alexandre Rodrigues as Search.
• Leandro Firmino as Zé Pequeno.
• Phellipe Haagensen as Bené.
• Douglas Silva Dadinho.
• Jonathan Haagensen as Cabeleira
• Graziella Moretto as Journalist Marina Cintra.
• Seu Jorge as Mané/Manuel Galinha.
• Matheus Nachtergaele as Zanahoria.
• Arlindo Lopes as Cocota.
• Babu Santana as Great.
• Charles Paraventi as Tio Sam.
• Christian Duurvoort as Paulist.
• Daniel Zettel as Thiago.
• Alice Braga as Angelica.
• Darlan Cunha as Filé com Fritas.
• Edson Montenegro as father of Buscapé and Marreco.
• Gero Camilo as Paraíba.
• Michael Borges as Caixa Alta.
• Roberta Rodrigues as Berenice.
• Thiago Martins as Lampião.
• David Medina how The hood.

Production

Script

In order to write the script, Bráulio Mantovani had to write twelve drafts of it, since it was very difficult to adapt the novel of the same name for the cinema, a novel that had about 600 pages, about 300 different characters and also about a hundred stories.

Development

Before City of God, Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund filmed a short film as a test. It was later that the casting was finalized. The most impressive choice was that of Leandro Firmino da Hora as Zé Pequeno, since he was described as a calm character, but he played a very violent and psychotic character. The only actor with extensive acting experience was Matheus Nachtergaele, who played the supporting character Cenoura. Most of the actors were real residents of the favelas of Rio De Janeiro and had no contact with acting. According to Meirelles, amateur actors were used for two reasons: the lack of experienced black actors available, and the desire for authenticity. To make the selection of the cast, more than 2000 interviews were carried out. Since the year 2000, various children and adolescents have been cast and placed in acting offices for several months. Meirelles used the method of rehearsing urban war scenes, such as gunfights. Much was improvised, as most of the cast had no acting experience.

Shooting

It was decided to shoot the film in the dangerous favelas of Rio de Janeiro, known as the City of God. To make it possible, they had to get the permission of the drug traffickers of that site, including the most powerful one who was in jail. However, the prisoner was not entirely convinced of the script, so the film had to be made in another place in Rio de Janeiro, similar to City of God. They also had to ask permission from a drug trafficker in that place, who was also in jail, who agreed to take it there under conditions that were met by the filmmakers.

Reception

Ticket office

The film was a great box office success in Brazilian cinema. It was also correspondingly successful internationally, which is unusual for a Brazilian film.

Criticism

City of God received impressive and acclaimed reviews from various publications in the United States. On the Rotten Tomatoes page, the film has a 92% approval rating. It was chosen by Empire magazine, in 2008, as the 177th best film of all time, and by Time as one of the 100 best films of all time. The critic José Geraldo Couto, from the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, reported that “City of God” is a film of terrifying vigor and extreme narrative competence. Its great triumphs are the very well constructed script and the consistency of the mise-en-scène. In 2010 it was chosen by Empire as the seventh best film in world cinema and the sixth best action film by The Guardian.

Awards and nominations

Lists

Oscar 2003

It was Brazil's film candidate for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, but it was not nominated.

BAFTA 2002 awards

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

• India Catalina Award at the Cartagena International Film Festival to Best Film in 2003.