- How many years does the film go through?
1960s – 1980s (30 years)
We know through the text appearing on the screen, through costume to tell which decade it is, the change in lighting and architecture.
- The protagonist – rocket
The antagonist – li’l Ze
First Impression
Rating – 6/10
I really like the use of cinematography especially with the 360 shots of Rocket as a teenage then being seen when he was a child as well. I thought this idea of the 360-shot showing the different decades was well done and made it easy to follow along to that character being the same in different places, through the same movements.
The most memorable scene for me would be the opening scene as the editing, cinematography and sound is very fast paced creating this intense journey of the beginning of the film and the escape of a chicken which foreshadows the struggle and brutality of the streets.
Micro elements
Mise – en – Scene
The location of the appartement where people sell drugs at 35minutes in show a dissolve of the appartement being owned by different people. The first owner, who was an owner, made the apartment more realistic to live in, there was much more props for example comfortable chairs and a table and curtains, connoting this richer way of living in the city of God, it shows that the women wanted more of a comfortable and friendlier home, even though she was selling drugs, however this was to support her family. Furthermore, throughout this montage of the apartment over time, it gets owned by a man and continue to be owned by more men. The apartment becomes more isolating and dirtier with very low-key lighting, the apartment in the last couple of clips in this scene show less prop with an old wooden chair and a table covered in rubbish showing the lonelier and dungier lifestyle the male owner was providing for themselves. The apartment is very cold through the colour palette, but it also looks cold to live in.
Editing – film’s editor:
Daniel Rezende said, “What we tried to do with the editing was attempt to use ‘effects’ whenever we thought that this could bring something extra to the sensation or emotion that we were aiming to evoke. If the situation is tense, and there’s no time to think, we speed it up and make it even tenser. If the character is going to be important later, then we freeze the face to commit it to memory. If both things happen at the same time, then we split the screen, so as not to lose anything. In the third part of the film, we especially welcomed anything out of the ordinary for the editing style. If a ‘badly made’ cut could increase levels of discomfort in the viewer, then we incorporated it.”
Performance
Working with non-professional actors:
– Used non-professionals as wanted to recreate the same feeling of the book as it would make the events of the film feel more natural and real.
– Meirelles learned from Mike Leigh & Ken Loach to not give his actors a script
– Meirelles would tell his actors the intentions behind each scene & character and allowed them to improvise which also created a stronger sense of reality through this style.
– 70% of what you see/hear on screen was improvised.
Cinematography
The ‘restless’ style, characteristic of the film, announces itself from the start. It begins not with the customary establishing shot but with flashes that illuminate a series of close ups – knife, hand, and stone – with a cut to black between each shot. Another photographic flash illuminates Rocket with his camera. He zooms out from behind a network of bars, which collapses down into his image. This is in fact a flash forward to the scene that will replay very near the end of the film, where we will see then that the reverse shot has denied us here, with Zé bribing the police after his gun battle with Ned and subsequent arrest. He has been introduced as a key player in the drama, but still only a fragment. The montage of conflicting shots and the collision of the fast-paced editing now gives way to the spectacular circling shots which will morph Rocket from a young man to a boy, and the favela to its former days of low-rise shacks and open spaces. The meeting between two of the principal characters initiates the story; the circular shot will provide the bridge between what they were and what they will become. The series of tight close ups zooms in and out on further fragments of street life – faces, a guitar, a tambourine, hands with tumblers of drinks, hands scraping and chopping carrots, chicken feet and chickens being lowered into the cooking pot. The first mid shot of the film is of a live chicken on the table, tethered by its leg. A cut provides the first long establishing shot of the film. The chicken jumps down off the table making a bid for freedom. Brazilians describe a situation that appears to have taken off and be going but will soon crash to the ground as a “flying chicken”. This apparent freedom is illusionary – the chicken might try to fly but it can’t get very far. A close-up low-level shot from the chicken’s point of view shows a plate of blood on the ground, a reminder of the chicken’s fate.
Sound
In the beginning scene of the film the sound is very fast. There is the sound of the sharp and piercing noise of the knife being sharpened. There is an underscore of music which sound like it has originated from Brazil, this music accompanied by the sound of chickens and food being cooked suggest to the audience that the beginning scene is possibly taking place in the street where people are cooking for each other perhaps suggesting that there is a market happening. After the chicken escape the sound really concentrate only on the sound of the chicken making the scene more intense and the audience sympathises for the chicken escaping.
Representation
masculinity and aggressive masculinity. There is a constant battle of power and aggression, especially between Carrot and Lil Ze, they are always trying to be the best between each other and then generate this constant aggressive nature that they have. Another way the film signifies the dominance of male leads is the use of very little female characters, the female characters are often the damsel in distress and are only viewed as an object to the men in the film. The use of aggression is used throughout the film from the male character to show their high status in the City of God and aggression is a feature that everyone knows who they are because of their personality.
Hotel Scene:
Unpremeditated attack
– Cinematography: close up of lil dice getting annoyed that he isn’t take part of the attack, it shows that he is still youthful and not able to understand what is going on fully. There is a long mid shot of him practicing shooting somebody and it connotes this aggressive masculinity he is growing up in, especially as he sees his friends who are older creating this constant battle of aggression.
– Editing: At the start of the seen the editing is slower showing this preparation of the attack it also shows the argument between lil dice and goose. It then gets quite quick when they are robbing people to show the same repetition of the robbing scenes
– Performance: A lot of violence was used from some of the character like hitting a guy over the head with the end of his gun etc
The Killing:
– Cinematography: There was many low angles shot used of Lil Dice shooting people it shows how he is more superior than people and if you get on the wrong side of him that he will shoot you showing his ultimate power and status over people. Showing his dominance.
– Editing: the editing of when Lil Dice is shooting people is very quick showing him growing up and how he is still doing the violent act of killing people. It is quick editing as it shows the repetition of Lil Dice doing the same thing, shooting people and then smiling after it.
– Sound: There is the constant sound of guns being shot, there is also a piece of music which is fast and upbeat showing that Lil Dice finds shooting uplifting and amusing for him.
– Performance: When Lil Dice is shooting the people he is always smiling with an evil smile, showing the audience that he has no sympathy for the people he is killing, and that he finds killing people quite joyful and it does not upset him at all.
Use the Internet and the Interview with Meirelles (Slant Magazine) to create notes on the following: (that’s about 10 mins per section)
- Book origin
The book, by Paulo Lins, took eight years writing it, and was the bestseller in Brazil when published. The book Captured what nobody really knew in the Favelas, and this book was telling the story from story from the inside. Published in 1997. Paulo Lins was raised in City of God. He was doing research for anthropological work about dealers.
- How did Meirelles and Lund get involved?
Meirelles, was given the book by a friend who said it was amazing, and he should make a film based on it. At first Meirelles wasn’t interested, but after reading the book he thought it was amazing. Katia Lund was finishing a documentary about drug dealers, so Meirelles knew she would know a lot about this universe. They both worked at a workshop for those boys that wanted to work as actors in the film. And then Lunds got invited to join the project.
- Casting and filming:
The casting was mostly non–professional actors as Meirelles wanted to recreate the same feeling as the book. Meirelles would just tell them about the intentions behind each scene and character and let them improvise. So, 70% of what you see and hear on the screen is created themselves. This is what gives the film a sense of reality. The filming – they had permission from the community centers inside the favelas to shoot there. They didn’t film in the actual city of God as there was daily violence and much conflict however the filmed in another favelas, Alta.
- Box Office / Funding
City of God worldwide revenue $30,641,770 – 30.69 million. The film grossed over 7.5 million in the U.S. The opening of the film in theaters made $88,292. The film was made on a $3.83 million (U.S dollar) budget. Funded by Tv Globo, Brazil’s biggest Tv Channel and 02 films, Brazil’s largest commercials company. In Brazil the film was a big success, the largest audience watched it. Miramax distrubeted the film internationally.
- Critical reaction
Despite its critical acclaim and success at international film festivals, “city of God” has evoked a wide array of responses from critics and audiences alike, particularly regarding its portrayal of violence and poverty.
The Edinburgh University Film society placed the film as their number one film: “superlatives should not be restricted when describing the marvelous piece of filmmaking… City of God is a tour de Force and the greatest film of the year by miles. (Chay Williamson)
Was nominated for 4 Oscars – Best cinematography, best director, best film editing, and best adapted screenplay.
Won a BAFTA Award for best editing.
Rotten tomatoes have an approval rating of 91%
- Technology
The editor, Daniel Rezende, said that digital editing allowed the character to be shaped within the edit.
Aesthetics –
Colours: there is a warm tone palette (gold, yellows, oranges) when we are shown the childhood scenes, In the 60s, which shows this youthful and younger view on life and oftens shows the more nostalgic and positive side of their life. whereas in the later 70s and 80s there is a cooler tone (Blue, and greys), which shows that they have transitioned into adulthood and are more violent.
Social realism: the use of non-professional actors helps to shows the sense of reality; this is shown through the use of improvised sense. Also, through the use of more handheld shots creating this feeling of documentary style and genre of the film adding to this sense of verisimilitude.
It is based on a true story – the end credits show the actors and then the real people which the story is based on. Furthermore, there is a video in the film of knockout ned being interviewed after he got shot and at the end of the credits scenes there is the actual footage of knockout ned being interviewed. The interview in the film is almost identical to the actual footage.
Rocket, the documenter and voice over in City of God, is based on the photographer Wilson Rodrigues. He becomes Rodriques at the end of the film and his association with photography enhances his “neutral” view of events. The poverty and violence are seen through the viewfinder of his camera; he documents the final shoot out. He is the one who informs us what is taking place both on a local level (the city of God itself) and at a national level (the slums of Brazil). City of God mixes the notion of the reporter with his objective camera that can reveals the truth of a sordid and violent area with the films own highly manipulated and constructed style.
Sense of hyperrealism:
colours – the saturated colours. The overexaggerated warm tone in the nostalgic scenes show this hyper realism, make the scenes feel heightened and exaggerated to help show this level chaotic Ness during the childhood.
editing – the restless style of the film / frantic movements/ fast cuts / music matches the chaotic nature of the favela/indiscriminate violence. This frantic movements makes the scenes, especially the running and fighting scenes feel more chaotic and very hyper to show this Constance need of violence and the more they shoot people and hurt people the more violent they become.
cinematography – extreme angles, framing, 360 pans. Also shows this chaotic and heightened feeling of the film. The extreme angle makes the film feel distorted and almost not possible to feel.