StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Film analysis with historical references - Cidade de Deus (City of God) (2002) - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
Introduction Dealing with drugs, guns and thugs all under the age of 10 is not new to the inhabitants of “City of God” but can be shocking and intense for someone who pictures Brazil with just wild beaches, carnivals and fun. The ‘City of God’ is a slum of some 200,000 occupants on the western edge of Rio de Janeiro…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.6% of users find it useful
Film analysis with historical references - Cidade de Deus (City of God) (2002)
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Film analysis with historical references - Cidade de Deus (City of God) (2002)"

Download file to see previous pages

The book was written by Paulo Lins, who was born in 1958 in Estacio, a black district of Rio, close to the docks; and later was rehoused in the City of God after the disastrous floods of 1966 (Lamnews, 2004). Living in the broken city with almost no infrastructure, Paulo experienced the dark side of the favela – the local gangsters, drug dealers, murders and thefts. The book was later turned into a feature film in 2003 that was critically acclaimed around the world, was nominated for four Academy Awards and gave a deep insight on the burning issue in Latin America – youth violence, crime and drugs (Oliveira, 2009).

This write-up attempts to analyze the movie Cidade de Deus (City of God) in the historical and present context of youth violence and crime in Latin America. The Story of Cidade de Deus (2003) The movie "City of God" opens with a frantic chicken escaping slaughter hounded by a gang of pistol-packing prepubescents. The chase leads the protagonist, photojournalist Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) in the middle of a proxy gunfight between the gangsters and the police. In a way, the first scene depicts the essence of the movie where Rocket is finding his ground between his two worlds.

The movie unearths the decline of “City of God” over the span of 15 years, from a sunbaked ghetto of earth-colored houses having children playing soccer games and petty thievery in front yards into a sinister slum swarming with armed adolescent gangsters dealing in cocaine and murders. In the middle of this change, Rocket narrates his life in the slum, a child of the 60s; he witnesses barbarity, greed, rape and revenge that fuel a catastrophic gang war. The movie is split into three chapters, each drearier and more horrendous than the one before; narrating through parallels, the interweaving destinies of Rocket and his childhood playmates, Li'l Dice (Douglas Silva) who changes his name upon growing up to Li'l Ze (Leandro Firmino da Hora) – an ultra-violent, psychotic, drug-dealing socio-path.

In the 70s, Li’l Ze’s only link to humanity is his lieutenant Benny (Phillipe Haagensen) whose murder leads him to be even more ferocious. Apart from dealing in hard drugs and combating with other gangs and police, Li'l Ze also “grooms” pre-teenagers (“Runts”) by supplying weapons and making them snoopers. A decade later, Li'l Ze's finds his empire threatened by the very Runts who rebel against his authority. It all builds up to a shootout between Li'l Ze and a rival gang leader Knockout Ned (Seu Jorge), a peaceable bus-fare collector turned avenger after Li'l Ze rapes his girlfriend and shoots his brother.

Rocket, on the other hand, despite living in the middle of violence, escapes from the criminal life through his passion for photography. His sensational photo of Li'l Ze and his posse ends up on the front page of a newspaper. Surprisingly, Rocket is encouraged by the publicity-hungry thug to be his court photographer. Most of the movie's final bloodbath is witnessed through his camera's lens. The narration of City of God uses many close-up shots, extreme close-up shots and flash backs making the movie very gripping.

Gangs and Crime in Latin America Youth gangs are among the core features of the landscape of violence in Latin America and the Caribbean. Known by many names, pandillas, maras, bandas, galeras, quadrilhas, barras, chapulines, they are permeating throughout the territory, and are

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Film analysis with historical references - Cidade de Deus (City of Research Paper”, n.d.)
Retrieved de https://studentshare.org/history/1427973-film-analysis-with-historical-references-cidade-de
(Film Analysis With Historical References - Cidade De Deus (City of Research Paper)
https://studentshare.org/history/1427973-film-analysis-with-historical-references-cidade-de.
“Film Analysis With Historical References - Cidade De Deus (City of Research Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/history/1427973-film-analysis-with-historical-references-cidade-de.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Film analysis with historical references - Cidade de Deus (City of God) (2002)

Importance of Education in the City of God

city of god Institution name The film, city of god is a 2002 Brazilian crime drama directed by Fernando Meirelles and co-directed by Katia Lund.... Like other street occupants in the world cities, these youths in the city of god are held in low esteem.... In The city of god, the youth gang that develops engages in drug and crime acts.... In The city of god, the young people are unable to secure jobs that would allow them to enhance their economic status (Bromley, 1982)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The Use of Documentary Film as Historical Recollection

… In this paper we will examine the role of the documentary film in the way people examine, construct and reconstruct historical and important life events, and to identify the limitations of documentary film to that end, and its impact on providing a realistic, historical record of fact that serves the collective cultural goals of historical collection and accounting of events.... This report makes a conclusion that the use of film documentaries as a tool by which to further inform an audience, and to serve as a permanent historical record of events, is a valid and reliable tool for accomplishing those goals....
16 Pages (4000 words) Essay

Narrative Structure

In this discussion, Narrative Structure, text, the films city of god and Goodfellas will be evaluated to highlight the core narrative elements, key opposition structures of the films and finally the similarities and differences as offered by these elements.... nbsp; From this paper it is clear that the city of god film was produced by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund in 2002.... Its storyline was adopted from the 1997 novel city of god by Braulio Mantovani....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Analysis Of City Of God

The movie 'city of god' portrays the effects of poor urban planning and organization.... The paper "Analysis Of city of god" discusses the aspects considered in urban planning and which can have the great effect in the development of an urban area as they are depicted in the movie.... Rio de Janeiro is one of the global cities as depicted in the film 'The city of god'.... In the 'city of god', people are quite ignorant and skeptical of embracing education despite being accessible to them....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The City of God

From the paper "The city of god" it is clear that kids from poor families get along with slum neighborhoods, the prevalence of gangs, and learn delinquent behavior from others.... After seeing all his friends doing that, Rocket thinks using drugs is a common thing in the city of god because many people do the same thing.... he city of god is a place that has been abandoned by Brazil's government and is characterized by a corrupt police force and an out-of-control drugs and gun culture....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

The Role of Editing in Film Development, and Analysis of City of God by Fernando Meirelles

city of god is an example of a film that portrays the power of editing among other film development techniques in creating films.... The same is the case in the film, city of god.... The plot in the film follows the development of a criminal gang in Rio de Janeiro's suburb known as cidade de deus.... The conflict in the film is systematic, the developer of the… In doing this, the film developers employs a number of film development techniques coupled with the artistic use of such vital The developers blend the diverse features of the film effectively thereby creating a cohesive film that communicates effectively through editing....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

City of God - Film of Despair

This work "city of god - Film of Despair" describes a brilliant piece of film making.... The city of god is not just another run-of-mill gangster movie.... This description will suit the young inhabitants of an urban slum, but what sets the youngsters of the city of god apart is the fact that they carry guns.... The word “livelihood” may seem irrelevant to the lives of teenagers in civil societies but not quite in the city of god....
10 Pages (2500 words) Term Paper

The Review of the City of God

This review highlights that the city of god is a critically acclaimed film directed by Fernando Meirelles.... It is due to such conditions that children in the city of god are shown as individuals engaged in the battle to eliminate poverty and upgrade their living conditions.... Many perspectives are addressed by Mills each of which will be scrutinized in relation to the city of god's representation of childhood in this essay.... It received widespread praise upon its release in 2002....
12 Pages (3000 words) Movie Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us