As one who spent many years in Rio (born there) and goes back every year or two, I highly recommend this movie as a realistic portrayal of the life lived by the "marginais," or criminals on the edges of society.
Favela (the mountain/ hillside shanty towns) life is shown stripped of all "carnaval" tinsel.
The "actors," for the most part guys from the 'hood, are convincing, the camerawork/direction/music---excellent.
The story may be a bit ambitious, spanning too many characters and decades, but the raw power is jolting, and no Hollywood studio forced saccharine into it.
I don't think I'll ever forget some of the characters. Definitely one of the year's best.
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Topic - "City of God" is ungodly good. - tinear 17:17:37 04/10/03 (3)
- You got that right... - rhizomatic 12:57:32 04/15/03 (0)
- Re: "City of God" is ungodly good. - SR 18:54:44 04/10/03 (1)
- If you haven't seen "Pixote" or - tinear 18:34:01 04/11/03 (0)