Cidade de Deus (2002)

Directors:

Fernando Meirelles
Kátia Lund (co-director)

Writers:

Paulo Lins (novel)
Bráulio Mantovani (screenplay)

Release Date:

2002 (Russia)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

If you run you're dead...if you stay, you're dead again. Period.

Plot:

Two boys growing up in a violent neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro take different paths: one becomes a photographer, the other a drug dealer.

Plot Keywords:

City Of God | Photographer | Violence | Growing Up | 1960s

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 55 wins & 25 nominations

Cast

Alexandre Rodrigues	...	Buscapé - Rocket
Leandro Firmino	...	Zé Pequeno - Li'l Zé (as Leandro Firmino da Hora)
Phellipe Haagensen	...	Bené - Benny
Douglas Silva	...	Dadinho - Li'l Dice
Jonathan Haagensen	...	Cabeleira - Shaggy
Matheus Nachtergaele	...	Sandro Cenoura - Carrot
Seu Jorge	...	Mané Galinha - Knockout Ned
Jefechander Suplino	...	Alicate - Clipper
Alice Braga	...	Angélica
Emerson Gomes	...	Barbantinho - Stringy
Edson Oliveira	...	Barbantinho Adulto - Older Stringy
Michel de Souza	...	Bené Criança - Young Benny (as Michel De Souza Gomes)
Roberta Rodrigues	...	Berenice - Bernice
Luis Otávio	...	Buscapé Criança - Young Rocket
Maurício Marques	...	Cabeção - Melonhead

Also Known As:

City of God (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
God's Town (International: English title)
La cité de Dieu (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong brutal violence, sexuality, drug content and language.

Runtime:

130 min | Canada:135 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

Brazil | France

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 (video rating) (version 2) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | South Korea:18 | Israel:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Brazil:16 | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Germany:16 (bw) | Hong Kong:III | Italy:T | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R | Singapore:R21

Filming Locations:

Cidade de Deus, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Company:

O2 Filmes

Trivia:

When Knockout Ned ('Mané Galinha' in the Brazilian original) kills someone for the first time, some people who live in the City of God approach him and congratulate him for the killing. The first woman to talk to him was played by the mother of the real Knockout Ned.

Goofs:

Continuity: The length of the joint Lil Dice is smoking when he is hanging out with the Tender Trio changes size between shots.

Quotes:

Sandro Cenoura: Have you lost your mind? You are just a kid!
Filé-com-Fritas - Steak and Fries: A kid? I smoke, I snort. I've killed and robbed. I'm a man.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Redentor (2004)

Soundtrack:

So Very Hard to Go

Gangs of Rio

If you're unlucky to be born into a socially, economically and racially isolated community that has poverty, crime, drugs and violence as its everyday realities, the odds are stacked incredibly high against you. It literally takes so much effort, strength, struggle and plain ol' good fortune to simply avoid becoming a gangster, let alone do anything more with life. Most who find themselves in the situation described above never even enter this fight and out of those that do - only the rare ones succeed.

"City of God" depicts this conundrum masterfully.

In a Rio slum called Cidade de Deus we meet character after character that has the right idea, knowledge and courage to get out but somehow always ends up being pulled right back into this vicious circle. Becoming a hoodlum in Cidade de Deus isn't just a fringe career option for disenchanted rebels and social outcasts - it's the main industry.

The images of gun toting pre-teen killers are very disturbing and Meirelles uses them relentlessly to underscore just how hopeless and frighteningly predetermined life is for these kids. Many of them can't read or write but already know how to use a gun and kill without remorse. In a particularly harrowing scene, local drug lord Ze Pequeno or Lil' Ze (Leandro Firmino da Hora) exacts revenge on a disobedient gang of 9 and 10 year olds by incapacitating two of them and forcing one of his own kid soldiers, as initiation of sorts, to choose which one of the two he wants to kill. Faced with death, one of the kids starts crying crocodile tears; suddenly all the bravado is gone and he is shown for what he truly is - a desperately misdirected infant.

'If only these people had more options....' is the sentiment reinforced with every gruesome event.

Of course, this lifestyle comes a little more naturally to some than to others. Ze Pequeno, for example, from an early age when he was known as Dadinho / Lil' Dice shows a considerable lack of aversion to blood and death. In another aptly choreographed scene so that we don't know what exactly happened until much later, he more than 'holds his own' alongside much older gangsters during a motel stickup.

Also on hand is a colourful palette of characters. From our narrator Buscape / Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) whose ticket out of the slum is his love of photography over to people like laidback Bene / Benny (Philippe Haagensen), followed by Ze's fierce rival Cenoura / Carrot (Matheus Nachtergaele) or good guy turned bad (although it's not so simple) Mane Galinha / Knockout Ned (Seu Jorge) we see a multidimensional, pulsating, alive community that seems in need of a strong, sustained outside push to finally stop chasing its own tail and get out of this destructive cycle.