Co-director : Kátia Lund
Cast : Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Alice Braga, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Seu Jorge
Cinematography: César Charlone
Country: Brazil
Language: Portuguese
Release Year: 2002
Very often I’ve heard about this movie, especially when discussions were on the topic of critically acclaimed movies from around the globe other than from the Hollywood or British film stables. I've heard Tamil directors like Vetrimaran and Selvaraghavan referring to this movie in their interviews which made me inquisitive enough to watch it. Like many other world movies, this was also floating in the sea of torrents with good number of seeders who helped me to download the movie in less than 20 minutes, largely thanks to my broadband at home!
This Brazilian crime drama has been inspired from a novel which was also of the same name. The story is based on the organized crime syndicate in a suburb of Brazil that is widely known as City of God in the early 80s and was divided largely into two factions, one led by Li'l Zé and the other one by Knockout Ned. Both of them it seems were real life personalities who were dreaded as the most notorious gangsters of that period.
To put it in a nutshell, this movie forms a great example for a perfect non-linear narrative (another example would of-course be Memento). From the present we are suddenly taken to the past and from then on things progress swiftly crossing each timeline with panache and then we again revisit the present - all this is done without a wee bit of ambiguity or any confusion for the viewer. Obviously I watched it with subtitles as the movie’s language was Portuguese and at no point did I have that feel of watching a movie which was from another part of the world. This movie makes peace with the viewers instantaneously with its gripping and paced up narrative which was extremely binding to say the least!!
At so many junctures there were some unexpected twists - in fact the character of Li'l Zé as a kid was well disguised and was revealed at the latter half and him moving up the ranks was made absolutely believable. The greatest asset for the movie was that no where it attempted to be a movie made from Hollywood or any other factory which is labeled as a superior one where larger than life movies would be dished out. It stayed where it meant to be and that paved the success path for it. Riddled with dark humor, blood and violence, this one would easily give Tarantino flicks a run for their money.
Another highlight of the movie were the technicalities - cinematography in particular - one should remember that it was shot 12 years back and they might not have had the state of the art gears that filmmakers of today enjoy, but the frames were lively and the effects that were brought on screen made visually impactful statements with conviction.
Learnings:
1. Interesting screenplay
2. Impressive casting and acting
3. Authentic script kneaded with nativity
4. Wonderful cinematography
5. Intelligent Editing
Verdict: Highly recommended for any aspiring filmmaker.
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I love the cameras in this movie and the dynamic pattern adopted. Awesome acting too.