Movie Review: City of God (2002)
If you run, the beast catches you; if you stay, the beast eats you. “City of God,” Fernando Meirelles’ film about the growth of organized crime in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, is a passionate take of gang life in the suburbs that is brimming with energy and fully invested in the lives of its characters.
The film starts with a bang: One of the chickens that are being prepared for a meal escapes, and people with guns run to catch it as it runs for its life. Meirelles uses this as analogy for a no-win situation, which was typified by the movie’s tagline. Indeed, this chicken scene also symbolizes the protagonist, Rocket, who himself is a metaphor for people whose lives are affected by gang violence amid abject poverty.
As an everyday man who doesn’t want anything to do with the criminal world of his place, Rocket dreams of a better life that involves doing the right thing and getting out of his favela. Ironically, this neighborhood is a poverty-stricken, government-forsaken housing project its residents call Cidade de Deus (City of God). Furthermore, as almost everyone around him wishes to be part of something special to assert their supremacy; all Rocket wants in his life, on the other hand, is to get a job as a photographer, make friends, smoke a joint, and have sex for the first time.
A Social Commentary That Stings as Well as It Tickles
Loosely based on real events, “City of God” chronicles Rocket’s childhood and how he witnessed the birth of organized crime. This rings home to him, since these are young men whom he knew, one of whom was his own brother. The film jumps back and forth, showing Rio de Janeiro over the years, from the ’60s to the early ’80s. In this way, Meirelles familiarizes his audience with the history of Cidade de Deus. The film also examines how some of the favela’s residents established themselves. They would bully and strong-arm those who got in their way, and kill those who they felt deserved it.
Meirelles’ film is a stark depiction of life outside the city: terrifying, unsettling, but never losing the sense of comedy. In fact, “City of God” neither looks down on its subjects nor does it glorify them. Instead, Meirelles employs an almost-clinical approach in presenting a film about violence that is both suspenseful and funny. The movie teems with both maturity and naivete, without tilting the balanced scale toward the opposite pole.
There is something strangely poetic about this film, which I couldn’t fathom the first time I saw it. Only now did I get it after re-watching it: The movie works in any genre; committed to following its characters closely without being patronizing and critical. As a result, the film proceeds and ends up being emotionally effective without even trying. And for someone who lives in a country with slums that closely resemble what Meirelles put onscreen, I don’t find it hard to understand how the chicken felt as it ran shit-scared for its life.
Almost 20 years later, “City of God” still remains one of the greatest films of world cinema. Kinetic, darkly funny, hypnotic—Meirelles’ masterpiece still deeply resonates to this day.
