Some movies become classics because of their influence, others because of their performances or filmmaking, and a select few manage to excel in almost every area at once. 2003's City of God falls into the latter category. Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund's Brazilian crime drama is one of the most acclaimed movies of the 2000s, combining an enormous story with a filmmaking style that never stops moving.
Roger Ebert was among the critics who immediately recognized what made City of God so special. Ebert was one of the most influential critics of his generation, and his television partnership with Gene Siskel made film criticism part of mainstream movie culture. When he reviewed City of God in 2003, he awarded it four out of four stars, and his praise went a lot further than a simple recommendation.
Set primarily in the City of God housing development in Rio de Janeiro, the movie follows several generations of young people growing up amid poverty and increasingly violent crime. At the center of City of God is Rocket, an observant young man who dreams of becoming a photographer and escaping the relentless drug wars consuming his community. The story stretches across dozens of characters whose lives intersect as the criminal economy of the neighborhood develops.
Among the most important is Li'l Zé, who grows up to become one of the area's most feared drug kingpins. His rise contrasts with Rocket's attempt for a way out, while characters like Knockout Ned and Benny become trapped in the destructive cycle of violence. Rocket's camera documents the neighborhood's heartbreaking fall, capturing the tragic cost of systemic neglect and the brutal fight for survival in the slums. City of God is based on Paulo Lins' novel, which drew heavily from his own experience growing up in the area.
If you run, the beast catches you; if you stay, the beast eats you.
It's not a straightforward rise-and-fall gangster story like other crime epics. Rather, City of God is a sweeping, high-energy, and immensely powerful look at several characters and time periods. The opening scene, where Rocket finds himself caught between gang members and police while chasing a chicken, suddenly transitions to his childhood, quickly establishing the movie's unusual narrative structure. City of God eventually loops back to that opening sequence, making the story feel less like a traditional linear crime saga and more like Rocket reconstructing the history of the place that shaped him.
City of God mostly chronicles the life of Rocket but meanders into other protagonists' lives to paint a more comprehensive picture of violence and systemic neglect. And while City of God parallels the mostly moral Rocket with the callous Li'l Zé, highlighting the contrast between two boys who grew up in the same neighborhood, the movie proves that Rocket is merely an exception to the rule. Whether a young child is killed, tons of people are massacred, or an innocent woman is assaulted, City of God treats this violence as casually as real life does, making it a disturbing depiction of organized crime.
City of God is a scathing exploration of institutional neglect, police corruption, and social inequality. What started as a government housing project morphed into a poorly planned and constructed favela that lacked infrastructure, jobs, and amenities. Rocket's narration showed how the people were abandoned, highlighting the harsh divide that existed between the residents of the City of God and the population of Rio. The movie's filmmaking only hammers home these points. Meirelles and cinematographer César Charlone use handheld cameras, rapid editing, freeze frames, changes in color, slow motion, and constantly shifting perspectives to create the sensation that there is always something existing just outside the frame.
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