City of God
Anytime I go on cinephile social media platforms, I see 'City of God' listed as one of the greatest films. I never understood why or what it was about, but the film was in the back of my mind and added to my watchlist. I was locked in when I got the assignment to watch it because the crime/drama category sparked my interest.
As a fan of Martin Scorsese's line of work, gangster films attracted me because of how raw and honest the storyline is. Scorsese and 'City of God,' I believe, run parallel because of the story of a character who grows up around gangsters and is forced to either join the crime world or try their hardest to escape it.
Roger Ebert made a great point in his review of 'City of God,' writing, "The film has been compared with Scorsese's "GoodFellas," and it deserves the comparison. Scorsese's film began with a narrator who said that for as long as he could remember, he wanted to be a gangster. The narrator of this film seems to have had no other choice" (Ebert). I had to hold onto every aspect of the film and ensure I didn't miss a beat. The craziness in each scene, where something terrible happens to multiple people simultaneously, kept me, the viewer, engaged and anxious. I think of the location where all the characters are at Benny's Farewell Party, and Lil Dice finds out Benny is calling it quits and leaving Brazil to do better for himself. The song 'Kung Fu Fighting' by Carl Douglas is blasting throughout the club. The energy is immaculate, and everyone is on the same wavelength, dancing in sync. The club strobe lights blind the viewer, and I can barely see what is happening. Then, a gunshot is fired, and Benny is bleeding out on the ground, dying slowly. This chaotic cinema sequence makes movies entertaining and attaches more emotion to the story.
The fast cutting of shots makes 'City of God' pop off the screen, which creates tension and an uneasy feeling throughout. Some of the cinematography is futuristic, where the camera pans around to the character and makes a traveling at lightning-speed sound - a flashback or moment of realization.
Similar to mobster/gangster movies, Lil Dice's crew has too many members to keep track of, so he does not care and does not hesitate to put a bullet in someone's head if they do something Lil Dice disapproves of or if they ask too many questions. One scene that made me laugh uncomfortably because of the dark humor is when Lil Dice goes on a killing spree in the motel. At the final shot, he gets on his tippy toes and fires, giving a devilish smile.
There is no cliche origin story for Lil Dice/Lil Ze other than growing up in a violent environment like everyone else and following the path of wanting to rob and kill, motivated to make it to the top. Like the older crew before him, he found pure joy in violence. Not knowing anything else, each character had two choices growing up in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro during the '60s through '80s - kill or be killed. As the antagonist, the audience gets to see Lil Dice from a young age, whereas in other mainstream movies, we only get to know the adult version of the villain without the character's evolution.
I'm considering the debate on nature versus nurture in 'City of God': whether the gang members inherit a life of crime from their environment or by choice.
