Technological – The editing in City of God allowed Daniel Rezende, the editor, to experiment and try out new ideas, it is responsible for the development and interpretations of the characters.

Historical – Brazil was colonised by Portugal in the 16th century resulting in almost genocidal subjection of the indigenous people. They struggled for independence, which was then gained in the 19th century.

Social – Brazil is part of the ‘developing world’ and is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. An estimated 26.5% of the population live in absolute poverty.

Political – City of God brings to light the key problem of the fight against inequalities and social exclusion in impoverished popular communities.

Institutional – City of God is based on a book by Paulo Lins who grew up in the City of God. The film is described as being made by Brazilians for a Brazilian audience and deals with a Brazilian reality. It was funded by TV Globo and distributed by Miramax internationally

Tone

City of God is a very tense film with a lot of moments of stress, sadness and anger. The war begins towards the end of the film, meaning the tension building up from the start makes the film feel like you are waiting for something bad to happen throughout, until it actually does. This can be seen through the use of the handheld shots which enhance the stress, and also the fast pace of the film.

Visual Style

The slums in the City of God are represented in a dark, dirty and gloomy manner in order to show the distressing events that occur in the slums. In Benny’s leaving party scene, the ominous atmosphere and mood that something bad (Benny’s death) is created by flashing coloured lights, the cinematography and the camera movements, all creating a messy-crazy vibe before the death.

Realism

City of God is a very realist film as it is based on a true story and it focuses on depicting the lives of those who experience the life of living in the slums, dealing with issues such as poverty, war, drugs, assaults etc. The documentary style of the film allows us as the audience to feel more involved as it creates a sense of verisimilitude for the audience.

Men

Men in City Of God such as Lil Ze and Carrot are represented as powerful and more unhinged characters, who are socially higher in status than the rest of the cast because of their jobs and the power they have because of it. Other men, such as Knock-out Ned and Rocket are represented as characters who instead of being evil throughout, become evil because of their survival tactics and so they are forced to become involved through revenge and survival rather than self-willing.

Women

The women in City Of God are treated disrespectfully by men, primarily by the bad characters rather than the nicer characters such as Rocket. Rocket treats women with respect, shown through his love for Angelica. Though this showcases others characters violence towards the women like Angelica in the film, like when Benny gets shot and Lil Ze shouts and blames Angelica (Benny’s girlfriend). Towards the end, the newspaper editor that Rocket sleeps with, uses her power from her job in order to use Rocket for his photographs of the slums, which no one else had managed to capture.

Technological – Pan’s Labyrinth uses animatronics and green screen work and its effective creation of a magical-realist production design.

Historical – Pan’s Labyrinth is set in 1944, five years after the end of the Spanish civil war. However, the inspiration for the film was the 11th September 2001 terrorist attack on America.

Social – Del Toro uses representation of social groups, and religion in Pan’s Labyrinth in order to show the social contexts of Pan’s Labyrinth.

Political – Pan’s Labyrinth is set in Spain in the context of the Spanish Civil War under the authoritarian rule of Francisco Franco. Another political representation is that of the guerrillas who are presented as resourceful, determined and egalitarian.

Institutional – Pan’s Labyrinth was released in the UK by Optimum. It premiered at Cannes film festival in May 2006. It was co-produced by a number of Spanish, Mexican and American production companies the $19 million budget is reflected in the complex production design, period dressing and large cast. The eventual worldwide box office of $83.3 million was seen as a triumph.