Language - Portugese
Genre - Drama, Crime
**ing - Alexandre Rodrigues, Matheus Nachtergaele and Leandro Firmino
Release - 2007
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City of God - Poster |
For a lot of people, common viewers and critics alike, Cidade de Deus (City of God) is the best Brazilian movie of all time and one of the greatest movies ever. Some of the notable achievements and critical acclaim of the movie are
- Ranked No#19 on IMDB all time top 250 movies list
- Four Oscar nominations
- TIME - One of the 100 greatest movies of all time
- Empire - 117th Best film of all time (in 2007)
- Empire (again!) - 7th in The 100 Best Films of World Cinema list(in 2010),
and the list goes on...
With the credentials as above, it's impossible not to have grand expectations as you prepare to watch the movie. Whether it meets your expectations or not, you are bound to be left amazed, jarred, thrilled, and of course, impressed, with this acclaimed masterpiece. Based on true events, Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund directed this masterpiece that revolves around the troubling growth of organized crime in a Fevela in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro known as Cidade De Deus (City of God), during the decades of 1960s and 1970s. To add to the authenticity of the film, the movie was shot in Favelas and most of the actors were from there as well. The movie is narrated by the protagonist 'Rocket'(Alexandre Rodrigues), an honest young boy growing up in Cidade de Deus who dreams of becoming a photographer one day. The movie depicts important characters and events that chronicle the violent upsurge of small time hoodlums and their journey towards becoming big-time gangsters who ruled and terrorized the Favela (Cidade de Deus), and the fight for control amongst them.
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"Tender Trio Gang" |
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Rocket's first crush |
In the turf-war, Carrot is accompanied by an ex-armed forces soldier named 'Knock-out' Ned who's out for revenge. A peace-loving and good-looking man, Ned is the envy of L'il Z. Succumbing to his sociopath desires, L'il Z rapes and kills Ned's girlfriend and then also kills his uncle and brother. Carrot exploits Knock-out's desire for revenge and persuades him to be a part of the gang. 'Knock-out' Ned's tale provides a different perspective on gangsters who turn to violence forced by circumstances rather than for the sake of greed or sociopath desires.
Though nearly a decade old, the direction is refreshing and is technically brilliant. Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund smartly tie together the stories of a multitude of characters and the overlapping events in their lives and put forward a very coherent tale. In spite of it's exhilarating pace, it achieves a great depth in character details and efficiently captures all the nuances of the plot elements. Cidade de Deus is a staggering masterpiece all the way through; from a brilliant start to an exciting finish.