City of God (2002)

Director: Fernando Meirelles

Rated: R

Length: 130 min.

After viewing this film for the very first time this evening, all I have to say is WOW...This is a film that makes you truly appreciate the world you live in and how priveledged you are. In the unforgiving slums of Rio de Janeiro, these young kids are forced to deal with the hardships of death and despair due to the world of poverty that they have been brought up in. The cinematography of this film is some of the best I've ever seen, and plays perfectly into the emotional triggers of every specific scene. The jump cuts that director Fernando Meirelles uses play an ideal role in setting up the audience for the consistent violence throughout the film. The narration of this film is told through the eyes of the main character, Alexandre Rodrigues (Rocket). As you can see from the title of this film, religion plays a key role in the narrative. Rocket, who is extremely religious himself, is dealt a shit poor hand in the game of life, but eventually surprises everyone, including himself, by taking the pot so to speak.  As the film progresses you almost become used to the constant bloodshed, for the realistic quality of this film is surreal. And even though this film is an accurate depiction of the difficulties of growing up in the poorest places on earth, there is a very endearing quality to this story as well. The emotional rollercoaster this film takes you on seems to be neverending, endlessly unsure if you're going to make it to its climatic conclusion. This is an absolute must see, and I would recommend it to any and all movie goers. City of God.