Cidade de Deus (2002) (City of God)

A Brazilian film about Gangs in a favela directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund

Rating: 5 out of 5

Directed by: Fernando Meirelles

Co-Directed by: Katia Lund

Cinematography by: Cesar Charlone

The book that the film is based on

Ever since watching Amelie (2001) the French film during the this summer I have begun to appreciate that there is a whole other world out there of wonderful foreign cinema that is just waiting to be watched.  The only difference obviously is the language barrier, however City of God is translated incredibly well in the subtitles and is very easy to follow.


Based on a novel of the same name this film tells the tale of 'Rocket' who at the beginning of the film is trapped in a seemingly inescapable crossfire. His voice is the narration setting up the individual peoples stories throughout his life in the City of God.
I thought the film was astonishing.

The first thing that struck me was the cinematography by 'Cesar Charlone', which considering the amount of different interlinking stories and time periods, was really well executed.
The whole thing was nicely rounded at ended really well.

The Opening scene that leads to a flashback

The original opening shot starts the story, but it is all  flashback until right at the end when the story goes past that point. It doesn't leaving me wanting any more than the film has given in the story, characters or cinematography.

With the cinematography I love the sped up 360 degree shots especially the one in the opening. The lighting is also used in an interesting innovative way, there is a scene where the Tender Trio are being chased and 2 escape into some woods. The lighting in this scene is so unusual and different, but I love it. Certain parts of the wood are highlighted like a spotlight covering the area, which makes it purposefully difficult to follow to see who is who. 

Even thought there is a language barrier for me I found the film brilliant and the characters so understandable and intriguing.