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City of God (Portuguese: Cidade de Deus) is a 2002 Brazilian epic crime film directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund. Bráulio Mantovani's script is adapted from the 1997 novel of the same name written by Paulo Lins, but the plot is also loosely based on real events.
Since its premiere in 2002, City of God has been celebrated for its stylish yet realistic portrayal of crime in Rio de Janeiro's favelas, but there has also been some confusion about whether the movie is actually based on a true story.
City of God is a gangster movie with real-life edge acted out by Brazilian street children for whom guns and drugs are the everyday, said this 2003 feature.
José "Zé" Pequeno (Douglas Silva) is an ambitious drug dealer who uses Rocket and his photos as a way to increase his fame as a turf war erupts with his rival, "Knockout Ned" (Leandro Firmino da...
In an early crime, we see the stickup of a truck carrying cans of propane gas, which the crooks sell to homeowners. Later there is a raid on a bordello, where the customers are deprived of their wallets.
Surprisingly for a film with such an advance reputation for violence, City of God is remarkably reticent. We have to wait an hour for a truly distressing sequence (the torture of a child) and almost two for a Hollywood-style shootout, crackling with Uzi fire.
A relative peace has come over the City of God under the reign of Li'L Zé, who avoids police attention by having an initiate kill a Runt. Zé plans to kill Carrot, but Benny talks him out of it. Ze' believes that Carrot is protecting the Runts in his section.
