La Cité de Dieu

City of God is an extraordinary film primarily due to its content, depicting the squalor of the slums on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro and the immense criminal activity in the area. It is based on true events. In the past, the problem of slums was even greater. The notorious death squads (EM) originated in Brazil, and this abbreviation comes from the name of motorized police brigades whose members illegally massacred child gang members in the suburbs of Brazilian cities in the 1960s. The film's strengths include modern editing, good cinematography, a solid script, and the performances of actors who are completely unfamiliar in Europe. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the film. Overall impression: 95%. (28/10/2007)

An exceptional masterpiece that may only receive true recognition after several years. The Brazilian nature of this film can literally be felt in every second. The filmmakers break away from the typical clichéd story and give us a gritty, realistic experience, where we see the harsh life in the roughest neighbourhoods of Rio de Janeiro. The formal aspect is flawless, with fantastic handheld camera, brilliant editing, and sound. The actors (unknown to me) give wonderful performances and the direction is even better. (08/05/2005)

Well, I don’t think City of God is only an average film, as my rating may indicate, but I simply can’t grant four or five stars to something that never managed to make me interested in how it will end. The editing is very nice, and so are the performances and the direction, but what can I do with that when I didn’t care at all about the story itself? (07/12/2008)

It chills one to the bone. It chills me to see how young children are quite easily seduced into the path of crime by watching their "role models" – teenage murderers. A little boy can kill with complete calmness and even with a kind of joy, a bunch of tiny, faceless brats raid shops with a gun in their hands as if they were going to play football. City of God is an unsentimental look at life in the slums, where, due to the difficult social situation and lack of education, crime and drugs are a common part of the landscape and where gang affiliation is more than the law. It does not lecture, it does not provide instructions for solving the problem, it just impressively shows the harsh reality that is unfortunately not only inherent to Brazilian metropolises. It’s a technically skilled (top-notch cinematography and editing) cheerless spectacle, in which you don’t, of course, get a redemptive catharsis, a positive outcome. And the final caption “Based on a true story” says it all. PS: In the closing credits, there is a short scene with the real life version of one of the film's characters, Knockout Ned, saying exactly the same words that are heard in the film. (31/07/2005)

Probably the biggest movie experience I've had and I'm not afraid to give it a full score. City of God has a very gritty story set in Rio de Janeiro, with no shortage of dead children and women. Little Z is a devilishly cool villain, the main character, a photographer, is a likable guy, and playboy Denny is the most popular and friendly drug dealer I've ever seen. There's also humor and some very powerful scenes that will stick in your memory for a long time. 95% (04/10/2017)