Synopsis
City of God depicts the gang life in Rio De Janeiro.
Centered on the journey of Rocket, it shows just how helpless one could get
once the damnation decides to hound you.
Review
It felt rough and gritty. That’s how I would describe the
film. It felt like whenever someone is getting shot, blood would actually burst
out of the screen. Whenever someone is getting stabbed, I keep on waiting for
blood splatter across my wall. That’s how real it felt for me and that’s how
bloody it was.
It may be a function of the characters too. Everyone in the
movie was rough and tough and angry and loud. Unlike other films, the director
doesn’t offer a higher reason or higher purpose that motivates the evil of each
character.
There are no sick mothers or disturbed childhood or some
angst they couldn’t get rid. The characters played for no other purpose but
their own survival or ambition to conquer the city.
As a result, I didn’t really find myself cheering for
anyone. It was as if the director intentionally detached the characters from
the audience to allow the audience to understand the whole story objectively. It
seems that the director’s purpose is for the audience to feel reality, not
necessarily love the characters enough to want to save them.
It worked.
I was more like a spectator. I was in on the action and I
enjoyed the violence but it also allowed me to take a step back and actually understand
what the film is trying to say. I didn’t have
a lot of emotions at stake which made me become more fair in “judging”
the situation.
Acting
I don’t know any of the actors but whoever they were, they
were perfect for the role. They were able to bring the simplicity and roughness
that their characters needed to make the movie believable. Sure, there were
some kinks here and there, there were some eyes that needed to act more and
some little nuisance that should have been brought in but generally, it was
good.
Recommendation
There’s a reason Time Magazine included this in the list of
Greatest Foreign Film of all time. It’s worth the watch. In fact, it is
necessary that you watch. After all, the gang life in LA is no different from
the gang life Rio. LA gang life has one advantage, sophistication in weaponry.
We will have more independent film selection in the future. Hope you come back.
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