Textual Analysis Intro

I have chosen Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund’s 2002 crime/drama film City of God for my textual analysis. The film is set between the beginning of the 1960’s and the beginning of the 1980’s and features the stories of two young boys, Rocket and Lil’ Dice both growing up in the slums of the city of god where one pursues photography and the other becomes a ruthless gang leader. I have chosen the section of the film between 0:00:50 – 0:05:50 which is during the opening sequence of the film. In this scene, an opening montage plays showing a bustling open market area where a chicken escapes and the gang chases after it only to bump into Rocket where the police then show up, trapping Rocket between the gang and the police. To analyse this section, I am focusing on sound, editing, mise-en-scene and critical reception.