Movies of the Decade: 2. City of God (2002)

"City of God" tells the story of the slum gangs of Rio de Janeiro. It's a breathtaking adventure of the city and the citizens who inhabit it. In Roger Ebert's review he says "The film has been compared with Scorsese's "GoodFellas," and it deserves the comparison. Scorsese's film began with a narrator who said that for as long as he could remember he wanted to be a gangster. The narrator of this film seems to have had no other choice." The main character is Rocket, one of the citizens of the City of God who is the only honest character and the only one who does not seem to be dragged down into the greed and evil of the surroundings. He serves as the main protagonist and narrator and the films conscience of the film. If Rocket serves as the protagonist and conscience, Lil Ze serves as the main antagonist and evil of the story. The environment acts as a character and both an enabler. City of God is an area that isolates the poor from the outside world, so the people inhabiting it already have something to prove. One of the most amazing things about the films is that the main characters and most of the cast are not professional actors. All the deep emotion and energy are from unknowns, which to this date I still cannot get over. There are actors who have acted for years that i see phone it in, but these actors being first timers make the story more original and real. Because the citizens are so impoverished they are forced into the drug trade of the city. The gangs compete with each other and violence ensues. The gangs provide structure and status that most people join who do not want to be killed. The director Fernando Meirelles is a first time director with this film and it does not show. He captures the attitude and emotion of the city. He just does not rely on one type of film making of this, he uses hand held, stationary, steady, etc. in certain scenes in order to get it right. The first time I saw this film I was completely blown away.  I was so accustom to nice little dramas at the time. I saw this for the first time in 2002 and I had not seen anything like it. It was an interweaving story that could also achieve more on the technical side. This film also made me believe in the oscars again (just a bit) it was nominated for Best Director, Editing, Cinematography and Adapted Screenplay. It was such a gut punch and I still have not recovered. Richard Corliss of Time Magazine summed it up by saying, "The film is seductive, disturbing, enthralling -- a trip to hell that gives the passengers a great ride."