Father Geek here with the long awaited return of our Latin-AICN Column editor, Coffin Joe Jr. Sooooooooo with no further delay from me, here from the heart of the Brazilian rain forest on the banks of the Black Lagoon is Coffin Joe... and THE CITY OF GOD...
Coffin Joe Jr here. I´m not transmiting this message from
hell. I´m not dead. I´m very much alive. Back with a review.
That´s all for now, but I promise I´ll be back with more,
probably returning for the weekly grind on Latin-AICN, if
everything remains on track down here at Joe´s secret cave.
Last six months have been interesting to say the least, I
apologize for my disappearance, but it was a necessary course
of action. No, I haven´t been lost in the Amazon, I wasn´t in
some local jail doing time, nor did I descend to the depths
of my own snowy hell, nothing like that. Been busy at school,
work, getting my own place, getting ready to shoot my first
short film on 16 mm, plus other stuff like casting my freaky
magic spells, cursing randomly at strangers and searching for
the perfect bride to have the son of devil (me). Oh, I also
got to meet the real Coffin Joe at a lecture he gave at my
college, which was a fairly colorful encounter. Maybe an
interview is in the works....... who knows. Enough of me
talking, let´s get to the review, shall we.....
Last six months have been interesting to say the least, I
apologize for my disappearance, but it was a necessary course
of action. No, I haven´t been lost in the Amazon, I wasn´t in
some local jail doing time, nor did I descend to the depths
of my own snowy hell, nothing like that. Been busy at school,
work, getting my own place, getting ready to shoot my first
short film on 16 mm, plus other stuff like casting my freaky
magic spells, cursing randomly at strangers and searching for
the perfect bride to have the son of devil (me). Oh, I also
got to meet the real Coffin Joe at a lecture he gave at my
college, which was a fairly colorful encounter. Maybe an
interview is in the works....... who knows. Enough of me
talking, let´s get to the review, shall we.....
"City of God" (2002)
Ok, this film had a very succesful run at the Cannes Film Festival, being sold to Miramax for distribution in most territories of the globe. Walter Salles ("Central Station", "Behind the Sun") is one of the producers, through his production company Videofilmes. The director, Fernando Meirelles, is a veteran of TV commercials, who also helmed two previous features, "Maids" and "O Menino Maluquinho 2", which weren´t all that accomplished in my humble opinion.
I approached "City of God" with a bit of caution, despite the strong buzz. The movie knocked me out in the opening sequence, a very unusual chase sequence, which features some very sharp editing in a truly inspired montage, that ends up in a showdown, between the police and the local drug dealers, with our leading man stuck right in the middle of the whole mess. Through the whole thing you don´t know what the fuck is going on, but you feel compelled to find out, it grabs the audience by the throat and does not let go until we get to the alley where the confrontation is set up. It is a riveting start to a movie that doesn´t let you catch your breath once during its 120 minutes of running time.
"City of God" is based on a book of the same name by author Paulo Lins, which I haven´t read, so I can´t really comment on how faithful this adaptation really is, but if the movie is any indication, it must be one hell of a book. The movie basically chronicles the birth of one particular place, the City of God, a Rio de Janeiro slum, in the late sixties, following the lives of several young kids who grow up there. We watch as these friends take very different turns in their lives, as our leading man/narrator Buscapé tries to make it as photographer, most of the other kids he grew up with end up, in one way or another, mixed up with crime. Drug dealing becomes the occupation of most of the ambitious young men who lived there, the quickest route to money, women, power and respect within the community. Screenwriter Bráulio Mantovani manages to give each character their distinctive voice, helped by the great performances from mostly newcomers, who were aided by co-director Kátia Lund, who handled the coaching and preparation of these young actors.
DP César Charlone and editor Daniel Rezende contribute a distinct, stylized look and a relentless pace, respectively, to the film. Director Fernando Meirelles should be praised for keeping it all together, blending a modern style of filmmaking with a very traditional "rise and fall of an empire" type of story, an energetic mix that knows its strenghts, but also dares to take a few chances, throwing little quiet moments in the middle of all the violent madness. He doesn´t always get it right, but when he does, he nails it.
The violence issue has been brought up by some, and while some of it is quite graphic, it wouldn´t get the point across if it was dealt with in a more subtle manner. There´s one gruesome scene in particular, where the heavy of the picture, drug lord Zé Pequeno, and his gang corner a couple of kids who have been stealing from a store located near one of Zé Pequeno´s drug dealing spots. In this scene they point their guns at these five year olds and ask them where they want to get shot, either their hands or their feet. The kids choose their feet and they both get shot, blood squeezing out their shoes. It is as fucked up as it gets, as the smaller kid cries, begging for mercy in an extended scene that really disturbs. There are other moments of violent chaos, such as a massacre perpetrated by a ten year old at a motel, the final showdown, the gang wars that take place for the drug dealing spots, etc. In my humble opinion the visceral impact of these scenes is a necessity, in order to convey the real horrors of this place. Just my take on the issue, that´s all.
Is the movie perfect? No, certainly not. The stylish flourishes of the film sometimes detract from the story, instead of enhancing it, but that´s one minor flaw in the movie. There´s no glamour in this neck of the woods, and occasionaly I wished Meirelles held back a bit in that regard. Still, it does look cool, I must admit that, and after a while the film sucks you in so violently that you forget about anything else.
Like I said, Miramax will be distributing "City of God" in the US, it opens February 23rd 2003 at a theater near you. Here in Brazil it will get released August 30th. I saw it at an advanced screening held right here in São Paulo, in my college. The director, Fernando Meirelles, came by for a Q&A session, which was mildly interesting, a bit dry in my opinion. He did address some of the issues contained in the film, but didn´t get too technical, and as a film student that disappointed me. Hey, at least he bothered to come, so I´m just being picky.
Check out the official site in both English and Portuguese, at: Their Cool Location
