City of God
2002BrazilLanguage: PortugueseDirected by Fernando Meirelles★ 8.4
Available in English: subtitled
In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.
Themes and style
Tone
bleakbrutaldark comedychaotichaunting
Pacing
relentlessescalatingerraticepisodic
Story
survivalunravelingjourneypursuit
Emotion
loss of innocencefiguring out who you arefeeling powerlessragebelongingthe family you choose
Themes
povertycorrupt institutionsclass and moneyfamily wounds passed downlife under oppressionold ways vs. new world
Feel
gut punchexhaustingdiscussion starterrewatchablecatharticcerebral
Violence
graphic