1. City of god
The review
A subculture could be defined as “an ethnic, regional, economic, or social group exhibiting
characteristic patterns of behavior sufficient to distinguish it from others within an embracing
culture or society”. In the movie City of God, director Fernando Meirelles brutally depicts the
unthinkably horrible cycle of violence which has now continued on for decades in the criminal,
violent subculture of the Rio de Janeiro slums. To give a brief background on the story, it is told
through the eyes and voice of Rocket, a young poor boy of color, living with mother, father, and
older brother – “Goose”. Being 2 years younger and a great deal smarter, Rocket has not joined a
gang like his brother. People who join gangs in the slums are commonly referred to by the slang
term “hoodlums” or “hoods” – many of which are under the age of 8. This aspect of the culture is
the focus of the movie. The story begins when Rocket is about 5 years old. As he grows older, he
witnesses countless acts of violence, drug dealing, and even suffers the loss of many people who
are very close to him – even his own brother, Goose.
City of God is probably the single most undesirable place in the world to live. Perhaps the two
most startling and shocking elements of their subculture are their norms, and values – most of
which fall distinctively under the category of explicit. In general, the richest people in the slums
are drug dealers and criminals. The majorities of the common citizens who work for their living
and provide for their family are incredibly poor, and just manage to scrape by most of the time.
Homelessness is very common. In the beginning of the movie, a chicken escapes from a market
and is immediately chased after by at least 2 dozen young children, many of which pull out
revolvers and fire at the chicken during their pursuit. In other words, money is very scarce. As a
result of the severe poverty in the slums, things such as theft, robbery and drug trade are all daily
occurrences. Even honest, working people will run out of their homes and grab tanks of gas off
the trucks which are routinely held up while driving through the streets. A sense of pity and
empathy washed over me as I saw this happen, as it is clear that it’s done simply in order to
survive. Virtually all the residents in the slums own guns. Not because they are all killers, but in
the slums a gun is a necessity to protect your own life. Many of the good-hearted characters own
guns, but they mainly use them to commit robbery, but don’t have the heart to commit murder.
There is also no electricity, paved streets, or public transportation in the slums. Marijuana and
cocaine use are widely accepted as okay, and in many scenes the young, pre-adolescant hoods sit
around on crates discussing plans to rob a house while casually smoking a joint. For the hoods,
their way of life has been chosen.
The culture, values, and occurrences in the slums have a dramatic effect on toddlers who are
growing up, and they often lose hope of living a better life in the early stages of childhood, sadly,
this has been the case for many of the main characters. As a result, many of them simply become
hoods in an effort to feel as if they are a part of something. There is a strong sense of
intimidation and fear present between the people of the slums. During one incident after a
robbery, 3 young hoods are escaping in a car and crash straight into the outside terrace of a local
restaurant. After they quickly run off to the nearby forest to hide, the owner emerges and
questions everyone outside what they had seen. No one talked, for fear of receiving an unwanted

2. visit from a hood. This value of keeping your mouth shut was a huge implicit “more” in the
slums. Many folkways are present in the movie as well. If someone wrongs someone else in the
slums, 99% of the time a violent and sometimes deadly revenge will ensue. Marital values were
also treated very seriously – if a husband caught his wife cheating on him, it wasn’t uncommon
for her to be killed, as Fernando illustrates in a very disturbing scene of the movie. We later on
see the husband crying while digging his wife’s grave. Violence in the slums was more or less
unavoidable, and for a surprisingly large amount of people, it was a way of life. This is
especially true for drug dealers and criminals – oftentimes a friend or business partner would be
killed for merely being a few days late in paying money that was owed.
Although there were laws in the slums like any other place, law enforcement was few and far
between. This is a huge factor in the perpetuation of the violent cycle in the slums. Later on in
the movie, the hoods and armed citizens outgun the police, who often run for their lives when
rounding a corner and seeing a group of 30 armed hoods running down the street. Police
themselves are fairly corrupted as well, and oftentimes accepted weekly payoffs from drug
dealers and criminals in exchange for letting them go unbothered. Even sick, twisted killers were
allowed to run free for a price. For this reason, nothing ever changes in the slums, and this
underlying theme of hopelessness is one of the main points the movie seem.
City Of God
Jan 3rd 2003 by Total Film
Two little kids aged five or six, are cornered by some 18 year olds. Asked if they want it in the
hand or foot, they begin to grizzle. The gun goes off. One of the kid's feet is blown wide open...
Welcome to City Of God (Cidade De Deus), the boyz-'n'-the-favela drama that elicits hyperbole
and superlatives wherever it goes. And rightly so: if 2000's AmoresPerros was the Mexican Pulp
Fiction, then this is the Brazilian GoodFellas, furiously knitting plot strands together and
pinballing between characters as it accelerates through three decades of crime in a poverty-
ridden shanty town.
It begins in the late '60s. Rocket (Luis Otávio) and Li'l Dice (Douglas Silva) are two 11 year olds
who idolise the hoods of Cidade de Deus, a godforsaken suburb on the edge of Rio de Janeiro.
Events then conspire to thrust Rocket and Li'l Dice on separate roads.
The '70s see Rocket (now played by Alexandre Rodrigues) trying to go straight, chasing his
dream of becoming a photographer. Li'l Dice, meanwhile, grows into Li'lZé (Leandro Firmino da
Hora), an unpredictable time bomb of a teenager who's killed his way to the top. Surrounded by
his childhood mates and served by an army of gun-toting teenagers, Li'lZé runs a thriving drug
trade through virtue of fear. He's unstable. He's uncontrollable. And, most of all, he's
untouchable - until one act of particularly brutal violence sparks an all-out turf war.
Whatever you want, City Of God has it. Technique? The camera moves so swiftly it leaves a
slipstream. Structure? It's both playful and artful, speeding backwards and forwards within one

3. big circle. Acting? First rate, 200 non-professionals plucked from 2,000 auditioning locals.
Tension? It never lets up, a 20-minute club scene so taut it's a wonder the celluloid doesn't snap.
Authenticity? Paolo Lins' titular source novel emerged from eight years of interviews. Politics?
The police stand by and watch the slaughter, only intervening to collect their pay-offs.
Crucially, Fernando Meirelles' blistering movie also comes laden with emotion. And we don't
mean schmaltz. Rocket's voiceover lends heart to his own story, while the volatile Li'lZé has a
touching, unshakeable friendship with likeable right-hand man Benny (PhelipeHaagensen). But
there's more. Everywhere you look, you see characters trapped by poverty and violence,
teenagers who charge towards death because, for them, it's the only way to go.
As director Meirelles puts it: "In Cidade de Deus, a 16-year-old kid is at the height of his life. He
knows that if he is lucky, he'll last another three or four years." This is their incredible story,
recorded to ensure their memory will last forever. Now how's that for hyperbole?
City of God
Reviewed by Nev Pierce
An intoxicating shot of cinematic adrenaline, "City of God" starts with a desperate chicken
escaping slaughter and being chased by a gang of pistol-packing prepubescents.
It's an apt allegory for the frantic fight for survival of the protagonists in this ferocious blast of
gangster mayhem.
Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) narrates our journey into the slums of Rio de Janeiro, the City of
God. A child of the 60s, he witnesses two decades of barbarity, greed, rape and revenge which
fuel a catastrophic gang war.
Fear and an instinct for self-preservation keep him on the straight and narrow, but his childhood
associate Li'lZé (Leandro Firmino da Hora) grows into the ghetto's godfather - a ruthless,
demented killer who makes Joe Pesci's "GoodFellas" psycho look like Mary Poppins.
Comparisons with Scorsese's crime classic are inevitable, given the hyperkinetic action, tar black
comedy, and eye-snatching visual panache. But while there's no doubting the genius of
"GoodFellas", for all its brutality it remained a caper, a gripping spectacle of hood vs hood,
where the mobsters chose their glamour-filled lifestyle and ultimately got what they deserved.
In "City of God", desperation drives children to acts of outrageous violence; crime appears to be
the only option in the moral and economic wasteland of the Brazilian favelas. Even the grotesque
Li'lZé is not without humanity, while the fate of other so-called gangsters is poignant.
For all its whiz-bang camerawork and outrageous entertainment value, the movie is grounded by
its true life origins (Paulo Lins' fact-based novel), and the superb performances of a largely non-
professional cast recruited from the streets. Gut-troubling horror follows cruel bellylaughs, and
the relentless action is underscored by unforgiving poverty.
Shocking, frightening, thrilling and funny, "City of God" has the substance to match its lashings
of style. Cinema doesn't get more exhilarating than this.

4. City of God
Violence, drugs and killing is what described the atmosphere of City of God, a movie directed by
Fernando Meirelles. Brazil, being the location where the movie was filmed is based on a true
story. Having that in mind, it is hard to believe that Rio de Janeiro, known for being a stunning
city, could have a subdivision like City of God. Beat-up, rough and poor are verbs that describe
the composition of the city. Above and beyond, they are words that frankly reveal the way
development, landscape and transportation planning has grown to be in this province.
In the nineteen seventies, development planning does not appear to exist in this region of Rio de
Janeiro. Nor does it show or give an indication of renovation towards the community. In fact, it
gives the impression that natural devastations occur in this place every month and giving no time
to repair the construction. Lil Ze's and Carrot's drug dealing apartments are good examples that
exemplify the above. The abandon apartments illustrate the poor structure preservation that it has
been left into. As a result, street gangs have taken over these raggedy buildings and converting
them into a different use.
In the nineteen sixties the only substantial landscape perceived in the movie was when Clipper
and Goose ran to the forest area, just outside of the community, while being hunted by the police.
In the nineteen seventies, the landscape placed all through the city, had been killed due to
pavement cover up and no preservation. Director, Fernando Meirelles, clearly reveals that with
his opening scene. The young kids chasing after the chicken through alleys and streets, was a
good way to expose the need of surrounding landscape.