Based on a true story. Based on actual events. What if those events are so horrible that you can’t even imagine that they are real? That is how I felt while watching City of God. I couldn’t watch most of it. I had to look away, literally, for most of this movie. I think I couldn’t really deal with the fact that it was so violent and that somehwere there are real children that are mass murderers and gang leaders.
Another thing I didn’t like about this movie was the amount of time that was spent jumping from one character to another. It seemed that the story would have been more affective had more time been spent on Rocket’s story. He was telling the story, but his story wasn’t the one being told. He continually told everyone else's story and by default you were suppose to surmise that his life was turbulent. Hotel Rwanda did a far better job of things by making Paul and his family the focus of the story. In that movie, you had someone to empathize with as the horrors unfolded. I think the fact that this didn't happen in City of God made it easier for me to distance myself from the story.
A word about the director Fernando Meirelles, who also directed The Constant Gardener. There is no doubt that he is great at his job. He used mainly non-actors in the movie and was able to get some incredible performances from them. Perhaps this technique was his homage to Italian neo-realism, but it worked splendidly. If non-actors can somehow find those performances within them or if the director can help them find them, why do we bother to pay most of the hacks that are hired in Hollywood?
This isn't a bad movie per se. It's just a difficult movie, but not a challenging one.
at March 11, 2006 11:22 PM