City Of God

Fernando Meirelles, Brazil, 2002, 130 minutes

A group of famished juveniles are hysterically pursuing a chicken through the alleys of a stone city and chase it on to a open street. Further up the way our protagonist, a young man nicknamed Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) is walking and spots the commotion. Instantly he knows what is going to happen, but before he has sufficient time to react he is interrupted by a frenzy of screams behind him. As the film is frozen, the camera swings in a full 360 degree twist: we are presented with a standoff. The police are at one end of the street, the crowd at the other, each with a huge array of artillery pointing in Rocket’s direction.

The City Of God, a notorious sector of Rio de Janeiro is the locale for director Fernando Meirelles' miraculous, astonishing motion picture - his first to receive international acclaim. Five years in the making, his film charts the evolution of the city over two decades and the lifestyle within. This is a place of extremely prolific violence, a place where pre-teens strut about with pistols, where alliances and friendships hang by the thinnest of threads. The story is narrated by Rodrigues (in his film debut) as he witnesses the transformation of his home from grubby, rural near-wasteland to an over-crowded municipality of fear.

Most of the actors involved are residents of the City of God, and their casting was a heroic, daring yet ultimately inspired move. The director knew all too well how dangerous these people were, and indeed his original ventures into the city were greeted by a cornucopia of aggression.

Superlatives should not be restricted when describing this marvellous piece of filmmaking. It is visually alive and entertaining, directed by a man with undeniable skill and intelligence. Stuffed with vivacious characters and shocking in its content, City of God is a tour de force and the greatest film of the year by miles.

Review by Chay Williamson
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2003