Rarely will a film like this come along. City of God is made with such fervor and love that is basically impossible not to adore the film. From its hip editing and cinematography to the hard hitting and sometimes shocking drama it never leaves you wanting.
The story centers around a young boy named Rocket(Alexandre Rodrigues) who lives in the impoverished slum known as the city of god. Rocket is a kid who doesnt want to be a "hood" and wants to live the straight and narrow. Rocket takes us on a wild tour of the city of god across three decades and introduces us to characters like the benevolent Benny known as the coolest hood in the city and the maniacal murderer Lil Ze.
The film is blessed with gorgeous stylish and thrilling cinematography by Cesar Charlone. The colors of the film are warm and help give off the sweltering feeling it must be to live in a Rio De Janeiro slum. The camera chases after the characters at break neck speed in many scenes increasing the frenetic feeling of the entire film. The use of shaky camera never seems overdone or annoying and only works to highlight as opposed to artificially enhance a scenes intensity.The film flows with all the style and strut of a classic Godard film using a plethora of stylish techniques from freeze frames and slick titles card reveals to 3rd wall teasing narration.
The thing that really sets this film apart are its deep and likeable characters and the great actors that portray them onscreen. Rocket is played with a certian wide eyed nobility that makes him a great hero to root for(especially when it comes to his virginity). Benny has all the charm of that kid that everyone knew in highschool and wanted to be boys with. The wild Lil Ze has an intensity on the level of De Niro or Pacino but also has a somewhat childish vibe in the film that makes him on a basic level identifiable with even though he is a mass murderer.
Fernado Meirelles is a director to watch in the future and City of God is not a film to be missed.
5/5 "You owe it yourself to see this film"
1 comment:
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