10/29/2023 0 Comments Favela samba movieLike his neighbors in the City of God, our narrator is trapped between the escalating violence. The cyclical nature of violence is a central motif in the film, and Rocket reminds us throughout the film that “a gangster never stops, a gangster takes a break.” The film opens in media-res with Rocket standing between two lines of gangs, pointing their weapons at one another. Each generation of criminals claims power by outdoing the brutality of the previous iteration. His destructive rules create vigilantes that attempt to stand up to him, but this next generation turns as violent as Lil Z in their war against criminals. An insecure psychopath, Lil Z kills wantonly and builds a drug empire enforced with brutality. Their protege, Lil Z, takes their mantel once the police murder the Tender Trio. Rocket and his neighbors begin the film admiring the Tender Trio, a group of roguish gangsters that act as Robin Hood figures in the 1960s. The film inverts classic historical narratives to push the margin to the center and the powerful to the outskirts.Ĭharacters in City of God appear larger-than-life, with most of the action following the generations of gangs that control the City of God. While most films would focus on the political and culture shifts in Brazil, City of God lingers in the chasms that such changes leave behind. You are meant to lose yourself down its intimate corridors, rather than notice the changes happening in the background of the frame. Watching City of God is like listening to a story from a cherished elder. Rocket guides the viewer through the film with a stream-of-conscious narration: he starts anecdotes only to pause them and start a new one, or doubles back on his explanation to introduce a new character or provide context. Our narrator is Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), a teenager who dreams of becoming a great photographer. The film tracks a favela through a 20-year period of aggressive urbanization and consuming gang violence. Often remembered as a crime epic or coming-of-age story, City of God doesn’t immediately appear to be a great work of historical fiction. Directors Fernando Merielles and Katia Lund weave a community tapestry that focuses on lived experiences over cause and effect explanations of the past. In its narrative and aesthetic, City of God establishes the favela as the site of history. 2002’s City of God accomplishes this by following a single neighborhood (the favela the film is named for) between 19. While most studios adhere to this structure by churning out biopics, the rare movie breaks the mold of simplified history to reach a nuanced vantage into the past. Those born into power are the drivers of history and the rest of humanity are merely passengers along for the ride. But simple stories create simple knowledge, and too often historical fiction prioritize the elite and privileged as a convenience to these narratives. Blockbuster movies and history textbooks alike provide us with hopeful conclusions that resolve the conflict given in the premise. Readers and audiences feel comfort when a narrative centers on sympathetic characters with clear motives and simple goals. This is true when writing history and writing movies. Cause and effect make for good story-telling.
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