Review Movie : City of God ( 2002 ) Summary & Explanation

An Unforgettable Journey: A City of God ( 2002 ) Movie Review

"City of god " or commonly referred to in Brazilian is Cidade De Deus which means ' City of God ' Is a Crime drama movie originating from Brazil. This tumultuous and tumultuous film is a depiction of a horrific reality that takes place in the slums of Rio De Janeiro (Brazil). By telling the story of a very heartbreaking tragedy that occurs in the slums, the narrative in this film will lead us to a terrible vile expression of the periphery that is filled with many gangsters.

City of God is an acclaimed crime film that has earned its place in the ranks of classic movies. Featuring stunning cinematography, unforgettable characters, and a powerful story, it's no wonder this movie holds a spot as one of the greatest films ever made. In this review, we'll explore why City of God is such an important movie, and why it has become a beloved classic.

As I have stated in a previous article about a majas about worldly cinema " From the movie we learned a lot,And from the movie we could sharpen the sense of our intellectuality " Which in this City Of God movie there is a historical element that we can study from the narrative literature that we will encounter when watching it.

Captivating Visuals and Memorable Characters

One of the things that makes City of God so remarkable is its captivating visuals, which evoke a feeling of being inside this Brazilian neighborhood. The vibrant colors, busy streets and close interactions between characters bring the movie to life. We also can't forget about some of the unforgettable characters in this film, led by Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) who dreams of becoming a photographer and succeeding apart from his criminal surroundings.

The point of historical is that this movie has a narrative that is so complicated like a crime series that is packaged like a semi-autobiographical film, because this film is an adaptation of a novel published by Paulo Lins with the title 'City Of God' which was released in 1997, A novel that is honestly packaged as a non-fiction novel that turns its back on a story about the development of criminal organizations that occurred on the outskirts of Rio De Janeiro to be precise in the western part of Cidade De Deus,Favela.

An Intense Storyline That Drives the Narrative

By telling the story of a revolution, about culture, accompanied by criminal developments in slums called Cidade De Deus (City of God), making this film has a deep historical value to the development of literature on a slum filled with gangsters, criminals and drug dealers.

If you have heard that the country of Brazil is one of the countries labeled as a country with a high crime rate it is a truth that cannot be denied anymore, Because in this film we will be faced with a terrible factual truth that has developed in the Favela slums since the 1960s.

***

SYNOPSIS & SUMMARY :

A Momentous Journey Into The Depths Of Poverty and Violence

City of God takes viewers on a momentous journey into the depths of poverty and violence that plague Rio de janeiro’s most disheveled neighborhoods. Despite the unpleasant subject matter, director Fernando Meirelles manages to use each scene to turn up the intensity and create an enthralling story which grips viewers from beginning to end. The underlying theme that anyone can find and embrace their own courage is what ultimately makes this movie so unforgettable.

With a narrative whose focus is on one photographer named Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), he is one of the main focuses of the character who will tell all the background of the character and the background regarding the development of criminality that occurs in Cidade De Deus (Like a living witness), The scene begins with him suddenly faced with a pinched situation between him, the Gangster and the Police who will fight with bullets, then He will lead us to flashbacks of his childhood and some of his friends who are in an environment full of criminality.

In Flashback Scene we will be introduced to 3 (Trio) tenders, namely Shaggy, Goose and clipper, These three are three amateur criminals who were used as role models in the era of rocket's childhood. The story of the three people tendering this trio will be told very tragically which later their crime story will be remembered as a trio of legends who opened the gates of the beginning of criminality in their area which later Li'l Dice (Leandro Firmino) will become an urban legend ( Local gangster character ) who becomes the antagonist character in this film.

In the scene we will be able to clearly see the role play outlined by this trio of tenders is not to kill the target they want to rob, That is the rule they guard in every robbery they go through. But as a result of their own mistakes their fate ended very badly. The narrative is quite complicated because it involves a lot of characters - the core characters of each of which will be told by the rocket so that it gives the impression as if this film is a documentary with an active narrator that tells the historical plot.

Salute to director Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund who worked on this film very neatly accompanied by visual games that are made classic like 80's movies. Inseparable from that, the flashback scene continues to move forward while telling the protagonist's core character, namely the idealistic rocket who wants to become a photographer because he doesn't like rough work and also he realizes that because of the large number of gangsters in his neighborhood, it will definitely be very easy to become a photographer who covers his own area from the inside.

That's why this movie can be said to be a Semi-Autobiographical movie, because the characters in this film are like living witnesses living in slums filled with murderers and criminality and drug trafficking who live freely. Not only that, with the Rocket character here as an important pioneer who will accompany us intellectually in conveying his life story while in the city of God, making this film even more exciting to watch.

And moreover, the script literature applied to this film is made complicated but directed, with a Plotmixed storytelling style that uses the technique of Present time (Early flash) to past time (back in time) and played into past time (from the past) to present time (to the future), Anyway, the narrative in this film will be mixed and made so wild in the next plot.

****

That's why City Of God has received a lot of awards because of the screen play and even more so for the Cinematography work done by Cesar Charlone made very neatly with its cold visual depiction and bokeh editing, making this film get the best editing award, namely the BAFTA Award For Best Editing. Well, even though the story based on this film is very extreme to be categorized as a Crime movie of course.

And as I said earlier about this Film, this film is a depiction of the reality that takes place in a slum with the fastest gangster development called the City Of God. It's almost like a historical movie, it's just packaged in the form of a non-fiction story that Paulo Lins said in writing the novel. For the scenes in the film, which highlight violence, (Drugs) dealers, and the systematic way this criminal works will also be highlighted quite extreme on the screen so this is what makes this film (Bad Ass ) really bokeh to watch.

As a result of this film breaking into a commercial film due to the large number of awards accompanied by criticism and audiences who gave a lot of good responses to this film, the two directors of this film also published City Of Men as a TV Series in Brazil and adapted it also into a film with the title City Of Men ( 2007 ).

Not only that, there is one allusive quote that is very inspirational and I have successfully seen from this film, namely ' If You Run, The Beast Catches you, If You Stay, The Beast eats you ' Damn, from those few sentences we can realize that this film is really extreme men, Especially if you want to know the cultural literacy of Brazil, you must watch this.