While the public library has always a great source to obtain dvd’s of foreign films, I appreciated them even more through one of my ASU Film & Media courses “Contemporary Films” where we studied them in depth. Since my site is primarily about film of all types, I wanted to share what I wrote for one of the course assignments back in 2011, much like I did with my recent posts in the “Music Video” category. One of the films I analyzed was City Of God , a harshly realistic portrait of urban slum life in Brazil. Although it’s very downbeat, the story made me think of how fortunate my own life was in comparison to what many others experience on a daily basis. Here is what I wrote back then:
The title City Of God, without any synopsis or summary could easily suggest a story that is vaguely religious, or somehow inspiring or uplifting. The first impression is not likely to be of a notorious, squalid slum in Rio de Janiero, which is exactly what the storyline is about. To many people outside of Latin America the city is primarily known as an exotic, world famous resort- an image widely conveyed through popular Hollywood films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s stylish 1946 thriller Notorious or from the garish Technicolor musicals of that same era starring flashy performers like Carmen Miranda warbling ditties about frolicking in the tropics. For those who remember movies of the 1980s, sex-romps where lecherous middle-aged men chase bikini-clad supermodel types around the beaches (Blame It On Rio from 1984) leave lasting impressions of a society fixated on frivolity. Postcards or calendars often present such iconic images of Rio like the fabulous Copacobana Beach or the majestic statue of “Christ The Redeemer” atop its commanding height above the city on Sugarloaf Mountain.
However, the opening images from City Of God do not even use any such images as establishing shots. Instead, the viewer is plunged directly into a hair-raising world of filth and violence that is to put it politely – the other, unsavory side of Rio. The flashing site and ear-rattling sounds of knives being sharpened against whetstone brace us for some hair-raising experiences to come. Still, this beginning of the film has a highly cosmic aspect to it as one of the chickens about to lose its head and end up in the stewpot makes a hilarious escape, tearing through the squalid alley with the hoodlum gang hot on its heels. This startling event sets in motion a roller coaster chain of events that become a huge circle of time as the viewer is whisked away from the present, (which shows one of the chief characters named “Rocket” caught in the middle of the alley with the chicken – between the gang on one end, and a slew of police on the other side) to his childhood playing soccer on the dirt field with other kids.
Rocket’s childhood neighborhood – which appears to be a lower-rent South American version of Long Island’s Levittown (as his character narrates: “there was no electricity, paved streets or transportation”) is physically and socially separated from Rio at large and indicates an almost complete disconnect from mainstream Brazilian society. In this portion of the film it’s easy to understand why “favelas” (slums) breed so much criminal activity at young ages, since there is a tremendous lack of education and other healthy, productive opportunities. The true story that City Of God is comprised of a cast that mostly comes from these actual slums of Rio makes the film even more depressingly realistic. The disturbing themes and images are magnified by the frantic MTV-video style (such as the sequence where another major character is supposed to be having a going away celebration) along with the camera movements and angles that bring to mind hard-core American police drama series like The Shield on U.S. cable networks.
Perhaps the most outstanding theme of City Of God is the overwhelming nihilism that pervades it. Nihilism is part and parcel of life in the favelas with the accompanying violence that is largely focused on environmental circumstances as the cause of criminal behavior. The term nihilism not only refers to a rejection of all law and order and the stability of society, but to a complete sense of cynicism about society in general (which is often quite understandable) and that often leads to destructive behavior against oneself and lashing out against others. City Of God offers up an abundance of destructive, violent behavior that includes gang turf wars over dope-peddling rights, a vicious rape of one gangster’s girlfriend, constant stick-up robberies that result with innocent people being killed or injured, and brutal murders (a particularly harrowing one where a young boy is executed at point blank range, and another small child is shot, but not killed – just to limp away in excruciating pain).
There is also the constant, mind-numbing weed smoking, cocaine snorting and alcohol guzzling that consumes the days of most of the characters. Mean-spirited, corrupt, and self-serving police officers add more mayhem to the mix – especially since they were instrumental in bringing weapons to the favela. By the close of the film Rocket is the only main character of the perversely named City Of God to make it out of the rotten slum without being murdered or tossed in prison. Rocket’s interest in photography is the saving grace that allows him to pursue what will become a lucrative career as a photographer with the leading newspaper in Rio, though ironically, some people would view his success as being achieved by exploiting the misery of the favela and by feeding the attention-hungry ego of the most prominent and cruel gangster (L’il Z) who ends up being shot to death in a grubby alley by the children who formerly idolized him.
The downfall of Li’l Z and the end of his reign of terror (at least until another thug succeeds him) is a reminder of the pivotal role that the media can play by taking down self-important, egocentric figures. Encouraging the media spotlight proved to be the undoing of infamous characters such as the bootlegging Al Capone in the 1930s (a notorious media hog) and infamous Mafia boss Sam Giancana during the 1960s which was excellently portrayed by John Turturro in the made-for-tv film Sugartime (1995). In this account Giancana was warned against having a public relationship with the acclaimed pop singer Phyllis Maguire (portrayed by Mary-Louise Parker).
A crony warns Giancana to drop her “because famous dames get their picture in the papers” – and that leads to nothing but trouble and greatly increased attention from law enforcement, along with ambitious prosecutors. Of course, Li’l Z is not discerning or cautious enough after a certain point to maintain a self-serving stance – just like so many before him. If there is any justice or satisfactory end to City Of God it may be that the bigger they are…the harder they fall.
