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If the first few releases of 2003 is anything to go
by, this year will be a strong one for movies.
Cronenberg's Spider, Curtis Hanson's electric Eminen
screen debut 8 Mile, Scorcese's epic historical
document Gangs of New York, and now City of God, a
Brazillian Goodfellas, are all powerful films.
Indeed, it is possible to find many parallels between
City and Gangs. Both films trace the birth of gangland
war and partition in their relative locations, Gangs
in New York, and City of God in the same-named slum
suburb of Rio de Janeiro, an area where the police and politicians want to
forget exists.
We trace the birth of the gang-wars from the
perspective of Rocket, who decides that the life of a
gangster is not for him- he wants to pursue
photography. From a group of three 'legendary' friends
in the '60s who start off performing petty crimes and
ending up on the run from the law accused of murder,
their antics influence a whole generation.
Rocket,
about 11 years old when we first see him, lives out
his teenage years through the '70s, when we see him in
the midst of the beginnings of the drug gangs. These
gangs eventually lead in the '80s to shootings, revenge shootings, hold-ups
and all out gun wars in the streets, all witnessed by Rocket and his camera.
It is a huge subject to tackle; a rich social tapestry
through a period of 30 years. There are no well known
actors or actresses; indeed, most of the cast are
taken from the streets of this area and are more used
to dealing than dramatising. At over two and a half
hours long, the film could have gone wrong somewhere.
Yet I was completely spellbound from start to finish -
director Meirelles has woven such a tight, beautiful
tapestry that the audience becomes totally entranced
in the hugely realistic atmosphere. The pace doesn't
let up for a moment, and coming out of the cinema I
felt educated about a society of which I had known
only a little bit about.
Comparisons have been made with Amores Perros, the
excellent piece of Latin-American film-making. But
where Amores was more a fictional film, City of God
instead tries to uncover a true history of the
Brazillian drug cartels. A brilliant piece of
film making, in the truest sense of the word.
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