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.