Stars: Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge, Alexandre Rodrigues, Gera Camilo, Karina Falcao, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Graziela Moretto, Roberta Rodriguez Silvia, Renato de Souza

Director: Katia Lund

Summary: The 'City Of God' is the world's most notorious slum in Rio de Janeiro. This is the true story of a young man who grew up on the streets of the slum and had ambitions to become a photographer and work his way out of poverty.

Youth gangs took over the slums of Rio de Janiero during the 1960s and didn't relinquish their stronghold until the mid-1980s. Only a sucker wouldn't have turned to crime and this is exactly how naive teen Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) views himself. His attempts in illegal activity fail as he finds potential victims too friendly. Equally unsuccessful in love, he regularly fails to lose his virginity. Blood spills throughout the streets of the Ciudad de Deus as gang leader Li'l Ze (Douglas Silva) is challenged by local druglords and a gang of pre-teens known as the Runts. Rocket shoots all of this action with his weapon of choice, a camera.
Director Fernando Meirelles combines visual flashiness with dark history in telling the story of three decades of unrest in underground Rio de Janiero. Technically flawless, the Brazilian film uses a rapid-cutting style to flash back and forth in time. Cinematographer Cesar Charlone shoots with an overexposed glow in a film that may seem numb to violence, but reveres photography. Director Meirelles was assisted by Kaita Lund, a filmmaker who had previously shot in the Rio ghettos.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

Like cinematic dynamite, City of Godlights a fuse under its squalid Brazilian ghetto, and we're a captive audience to its violent explosion. The titular favelais home to a seething army of impoverished children who grow, over the film's ambitious 20-year time frame, into cut-throat killers, drug lords and feral survivors. In the vortex of this maelstrom is L'il Z (Leandro Firmino da Hora--like most of the cast, a non-professional actor), self-appointed king of the dealers, determined to eliminate all competition at the expense of his corrupted soul. With enough visual vitality and provocative substance to spark heated debate (and box-office gold) in Brazil, codirectors Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund tackle their subject head on, creating a portrait of youthful anarchy so appalling--and so authentically immediate--that City of Godprompted reforms in socioeconomic policy. It's a bracing feat of stylistic audacity, borrowing from a dozen other films to form its own unique identity. You'll flinch, but you can't look away. --Jeff Shannon

Main Language:	Portuguese
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Documentary - 1. NEWS FROM A PERSONAL WAR (57 mins), Trailers
Subtitles:	English
Year:	2002
Release Date:	September 22, 2003
Runtime:	135 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	B E D 888789
Label:	Miramax
Keywords:	God, City, General, Drama, Deus, Cidade
Genre:	Drama