5 of 10
Cinematography by C�sar Charlone
Alexandre Rodrigues
Leandro Firmino
Phellipe Haagensen
Douglas Silva
Jonathan Haagensen
Matheus Nachtergaele
Seu Jorge
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| City of God 5 of 10 |
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| Directed by Fernando Meirelles Cinematography by C�sar Charlone Alexandre Rodrigues Leandro Firmino Phellipe Haagensen Douglas Silva Jonathan Haagensen Matheus Nachtergaele Seu Jorge |
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| This film received a tremendous amount of critical buzz around the time of the 2004 Academy Awards. So I was fairly interested in watching it; critically acclaimed films always interest me, because I like to know what it is that people consider excellent. And this film has a lot of what I consider to be the strengths and weaknesses of more modern cinema. Like many of its contemporaries, it seemed to alternate between chilling effectiveness, and emotional distance. There was one scene that was as hard to watch as anything I have ever seen. But there were also a fair number of scenes that had no impact on me whatsoever, even though their material was definitely emotional. I had a similarly dual reaction to the story, as well. The film was obviously created by someone with strong storytelling skills, but lacked a strong story. Again, a strength and a weakness that seems all too common in more modern films. (The multiple-time storylines were well put together, and an intellectually stimulating puzzle. But it was a bit too obviously an attempt to duplicate Tarrantino�s style, which made it less impressive to me.) The acting contained some respectable performances, although none were particularly note-worthy. The youngsters did not impede the film, which is more than can be said for most films of this type. Technically, it was visually arresting, but not beautiful. (I think I know what Meirelles was going for; the hand-held stuff gives it a documentary feel. But its not actually a documentary, so I don�t like it. Besides, there�s far too much of it, anyway.) There are some amazing �God�s-eye-view� shots towards the middle of the film that are really powerful. And now I come to my biggest technical gripe: the editing, which was roundly praised by almost everyone, and despised by me. I found it truly irritating. But then, I hate alternate speed stuff, in almost every case. And I don�t like jumpy, short cutting at all. That aside, the film indeed offers a truly chilling look at a troubled time period. And yet, I didn�t care much. I guess my objections could best be summed up by this quote: �The main character in Cidade de Deus is not a person. It is a place.� That is absolutely true; the film is really and truly about the city. But I don�t like movies about places. I don�t really care about the city, only the inhabitants. And they flit through the film too fleetingly for me to become really, truly attached to them. | |||||