Others say...

"Perfection"
City of God is a beautiful film by director Fernando Meirelles. The movie focuses on the true life story of a boy who struggles to grow up in the tough streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The plot of the film is pieced together through various character subplots that ultimately interwine in the end to result in an explosive finish (the intertwined story editing is similiar to such movies as Fight Club, Momento, and Crash). Overall City of God is an incredibly pulsating film that is well acted and above all else real. As a warning to some the film is very violent but not gratuitous.

"A Dark, Well-Acted Film"
Every big city has its crime and drug problems, but Rio de Janeiro is different. It's only sort of a big city, a sprawling landscape of measured favelas (slum neighborhoods) and mazelike city streets. Poverty lies around every corner. Crime runs rampant. Hope has left the city and shot right past the shanty slums on the outskirts of town. Young boys like Rocket don't know that a thing like hope exist.

CITY OF GOD (Cidade de Deus) follows the journey of Rocket, but it does so in a clever meandering sort of way. We get a good glimpse into 5 or 6 main characters, all for the sake of showing Rocket's story. But all the characters in a story each have their own story, and this film does its best to tell each of those as well. Rocket wants to make a truly honest living for himself, but at each step along the way, "the city" won't let him. The environment doesn't allow for honest livings. Drug gangs rule the slums, namely the youth-run gangs of Li'l Ze' and Carrot. The police are paid off by the gangs, and when the police aren't fighting against the real injustices of the town, you know you're in trouble.

This is a dark film, well-acted, but filled with heartless killing and drug use. While often this genre leaves me feeling dirty, CITY OF GOD left me sad for the people of Brazil and areas like them. I haven't read the novel by Paulo Lins, but the film has enough redemption within the muck for me to recommend it, though not wholeheartedly. It feels like a fresh version of Scarface or the Godfather, only told from a different character's point of view and for slightly different effect. When farming and fish-selling doesn't pay the bills, what else is left for a young man to do? Rocket's dream is in photography. The question is, will the City of God allow him to live a holy life free from crime and corruption. The irony for Rocket and so many like him is that it is in that same corruption that he finds his honest hope.

--- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

"The characters will stay with you"
This is one of those movies that stays with you for a while. The story telling is impeccable and though there are a lot of characters, all of them are unique and well rounded. I would recommend to anyone who likes "gangster" type movies. Don't let the subtitles scare you! - you will greatly miss out.

"AMAZING DVD"
I read the book, I had seen the movie before, but I would like to have my own copy.
I borrow to a couple f friends, all of them were amused by how amazing this story is.


"This film was outstanding. Buy it NOW!"
City of God was a simply amazing film. It was on par with Goodfells in it's weaving of a huge tale seamlessly around a single character. I was riveted the entire time. Some scenes even made me wince they were so powerful. This director has hit a home run to the moon. This film is proof positive that subtitles and foreign films can be as good if not better than home grown films. Also despite a story being told in country and environment few here can relate to there were still many universal human elements that made the film feel as if it could have been taking place down the block from my home. We are all human and all share the thoughts and feelings expressed in this film.

I could watch this film a hundred times and not get tired of it. It was actually one of the best films I've ever seen.