Last Night I Watched: ‘City of God’ (2002)

You need to watch City of God as soon as possible. I have no doubt that it is my “most re-watched” movie ever, and for very good reason.The film takes place in Rio de Janeiro during the late 90s, and follows the story of a group of childhood friends as they grow from the slums that are the favelas of Brazil into the dangerous world of drug crime. It feels like the best elements of both Scarface and Goodfellas, but executed with more emotion, more relatability, and more sincerity. Not only are the multitude of characters extremely well fleshed out and believable, but they all have this extra element of innocence and genuineness which makes them feel a lot more “human” to the viewer, resulting in a movie that is all the more entertaining and captivating.

Image: Miramax

The movie is narrated by Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), a young “hoodlum” with no real aspirations to a life of crime, yet managing to find himself awkwardly stuck on the border in between an honest photographer’s living, and working with his childhood friend L’il Ze (Firmino da Hora) as he grows his drug empire. Both Rocket and L’il Ze go through substantial character development in this movie, as we watch L’il Ze grow to become the most fearsome and ruthless drug kingpin in all of Rio.

Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles has put a lot of passion into this movie, and it truly does shine through in its beauty. It is an understatement to call this movie “good-looking” (although not quite in a Tree of Life kind of way, more of a gritty, sincere beauty). Scene after scene, Meirelles manages to keep the viewer entertained through interesting transitions, colours, and shot composition. However, he also expertly manages to consistently keep the spotlight on his actors’ performances, giving them ample space to shine through.

Image: Miramax

It is an understatement to call this movie “good-looking”

And shine they do. Not only are the performances by every single actor very believable and well-crafted, which is already a feat in itself considering how many characters there are, but even the child actors managed to deliver performances which were just as believable, making for an all-around consistently gripping experience as you are never taken out of the movie by a poor performance. Every actor just seemed to fit perfectly with their associated character, and I’m sure that if I ever see any of them again in any other movies (Brazilian or otherwise) I will never be able to disassociate them from their roles in this City of God.

In conclusion, don’t be scared away by the fact that this is a “foreign film”, or that it is subtitled. Not only is this movie just as well produced, directed, and acted as a standard Hollywood production, but I can also guarantee that you will find it so engaging that you will forget the fact that you’re even reading subtitles.