Textual Analysis Film: City of God 

Director(s) Meirelles & Lund 

Sequence Running Time: 1:47:06 – 1:52:06 

Wordcount: 580

This essay analyses a sequence from the 2002 coming of age film ‘City of God’ (Meirelles & Lund). City Of God is a Brazilian Drama/Crime film mainly set in the seventies but introduces rudimentary characters such as Rocket, Shaggy and Lil Dice (Lil ‘Ze) in the beginning of the film, which is set in the sixties, during these decades the City of God which is west of Rio De Janeiro was teeming with ‘hoodlums’ and gangsters. I chose to analyse a sequence nearing the end of the film 1:47:06 – 1:52:06 which is titled ‘the beginning of the end’ this is because the gang rivalry is about to hit a climax, after Lil ’Ze gave the runts guns Knockout Neds gang ambushed Lil ’Ze’s which resulted in Ze getting caught. This section of the film can be seen to reflect the social and economic contexts of Brazil at the time, this essay explores how these contexts were depicted within the film by analysing the cinematography, editing and narrative techniques which were used.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Meirelles and Lund worked with cinematographer Cesar Charlone to capture the social and economic state of the City of God. The films use of high and low angles are seen to emphasise power, at the beginning of the sequence the viewer can see the runts making their way up the stairs(figure 1) to meet Lil ‘Ze, Charlone then decides to use an eye level shot and pan(figure 3) once they have made it up the stairs, during the conversation with Lil ‘Ze a low angle shot is maintained(figure 2) when Lil ‘Ze is the subject of the shot. Charlone did this to convey to the viewer that the runts are using Lil ‘Ze to move to power, as before Lil ‘Ze gave them the guns Charlone used a high angle shot to depict the runts but after the exchange he decided to move to an eye level shot this is because the runts are moving to power, at this point in the sequence the runts still respect Lil ‘Ze which is the reason why he is depicted with a low angle shot in this part of the sequence, not only does he have the power over them but he also has the respect. The City of God is a prime example of Brazil’s governmental neglect, there were many places in Rio De Janeiro which had been neglected these were called favelas. An Increase of Favelas was seen after the proclamation of the republic, where Brazil went from an Empire to a Republic. In these favelas power became especially important socially as rules and laws weren’t applicable since favelas suffered neglect from the government many public services weren’t available. Lil ‘Ze and Knockout Ned had all the power in the City of God at the time, it becomes understandable that the runts also strive for this same power and respect. There comes this sense of dramatic Irony from this part of the sequence as the viewers can clearly assume that the runts should not be trusted, and the viewers assumptions become correct later in the film where they kill Lil ‘Ze with the same guns he gave them, essentially killing himself. The viewer can then take away that the rivalry and social tension which overrun the streets became too much for Lil ‘Ze to maintain clarity which resulted in his downfall.