City of God

Is this as good as the Godfather trilogy? They're both about love, loyalty and betrayal, but the strong element of (nuclear) family history is missing in this film. In its place you have the history of a city, or at least the divisiveness inherent in any city. The city in question: Rio de Janeiro, considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world (and seeing glimpses of the downtown areas and surrounding mountains, sea and clear blue sky, you can see why). Class struggle exists here, as nearly everywhere, and a large portion of the city is slum (the Cidade de Deus of the title, originally a housing project gone out of control). With the poor struggling to survive, it's not surprising that drug and gun smuggling is rampant. To protect this turf and its citizens, "soldiers" are recruited from the citizenry, effectively replacing governmental authority and clashing constantly with the police. Layered on top of this history is the story of one boy growing up amidst all the chaos, struggling to remain honest and fulfill his ambition of becoming a photographer. What makes this tale one of the greatest ever told is its epic quality told with great restraint, with nary an extraneous scene, but still full and lush and in love with its setting, regardless of the squalor it portrays. Not once was I bored, not once was I tempted to take an intermission, I was just desperate to find out how it ended. And the ending is what gives it the extra .5 stars that raises it to rarified ranks. For some, it may seem inevitable, or too tidy, but I recognized it as the filmmakers' solution to the seemingly hopeless state of affairs. I understand the filmmakers chose actors from those in the favella (slum), and they are hands-down marvelous choices. I have to wonder how difficult it was to shoot even part of this film in the slums and/or how hard it was to line up actors, whether or not they were associated with the insurgency. I recommend the documentary attached to the DVD only half-heartedly. While its images will stick in your head, watching it distills somewhat the impact of the film.

original title: Cidade de Deus
year: 2002
length: 130 min.
rating: 4.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317248/combined