City of God

Theatrical Release Date: 2003 01 17 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 786936223897

Studio: Miramax

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Not For Children, Adult Language, Sexual Situations, Drug Content]

Summary: Fernando Meirelles' City of God is a sweeping tale of how crime affects the poor population of Rio de Janeiro. Though the narrative skips around in time, the main focus is on Cabeleira who formed a gang called the Tender Trio. He and his best friend, Ben? (Phelipe Haagensen), become crime lords over the course of a decade. When Ben? is killed before he can retire, Lil' Z? attempts to take out his arch enemy, Sandro Cenoura (Matheus Nachtergaele). But Sandro and a young gangster named Mane form an alliance and begin a gang war with Lil' Z?. Amateur photographer Buscape (Alexandre Rodrigues) takes pictures of the brutal crime war, making their story famous. City of God was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Category: Crime

Awards: Best Foreign Language Film – null Visions Award - Special Citation – Toronto International Film Festival Audience Award – AFI Fest Best Foreign Language Film – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Editing – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Foreign Film – National Board of Review Best Foreign Film – Independent Spirit Awards Best Foreign Film – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Foreign Film – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Foreign Film – New York Film Critics Circle Film Presented – Telluride Film Festival Best Foreign Language Film – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: cc"News From a Personal War" documentary

City of God

Format: DVD

Release Date: 06/08/2004

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 130 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) Portuguese

Subtitles: English,Spanish,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Chasing the Chicken
2. In the City of God
3. The Motel Job
4. See No Evil
5. Shorty Suspects
6. Buried Alive
7. The Seventies
8. The Apartment
9. L'il Z?
10. The Local Drug Trade
11. Ben?'s New 'Do'
12. The Runts
13. Hand or Foot
14. Knockout Ned
15. Goodnight Sweet Prince
16. Killing Spree
17. Ned Goes Over
18. Rampage
19. Rocket
20. Take My Picture
21. Front Page
22. Guns Like Candy
23. Bloodbath
24. Rocket Sees All
25. End Credits

Josh Ralske

Fernando Meirelles' City of God starts with a bang, and it doesn't just unfold quickly -- it flies at the audience like it was shot out of a cannon. Based on the novel by Paulo Lins, it's a vibrantly hyperkinetic, hyperstylized gangster-drug saga in the tradition of Goodfellas and Trainspotting, complete with jump cuts, whip pans, split screens, freeze frames, elliptical leaps back and forward in time, and wry, self-conscious narration. But City of God has its own unique soulfulness as it explores a vortex of intense poverty and violence that sucks in young men and boys of varied temperaments, who grow up more cynical and violent with each successive generation. Based on actual events and well-cast with nonprofessional young actors pulled from Cidade de Deus, a government-built slum outside Rio de Janeiro, the film exposes a shadow world just miles from a tourist paradise. Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), a good-natured boy who comically learns that he's not cut out to be a hoodlum, decides to become a photojournalist. He's the film's audience/author surrogate, narrator, and moral center. Lil' Dice (Douglas Silva), meanwhile, is a natural-born killer, a sociopath who craves power and loves violence. He grows up, changes his name to Lil' Z? (Leandro Firmino da Hora), and takes over most of the city's drug trade. They're surrounded by an assortment of colorful, well-drawn characters, each of whom eventually have to confront the consequences of their violent lifestyle. While Lil' Z? is the closest the film comes to a real villain, he's shown to be fully human, winning a little bit of audience sympathy when he confronts the fact that he can't find a girlfriend, before again veering off into psychotic mayhem. City of God is a thrilling, sardonically witty, vital, and disturbing cinematic tour de force. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Darlan Cunha  Actor 
Antonio Pinto  Composer (Music Score) 
Elisa Tolomelli  Executive Producer 
Mauricio Andrade Ramos  Producer 
Fernando Meirelles  Director 
Ed Cortes  Composer (Music Score) 
Andrea Barata Ribeiro  Producer 
Juliette Renaud  Executive Producer 
Braulio Mantovani  Screenwriter 
Alexandre Rodrigues  Actor 
Leandro Firmino da Hora  Actor 
Matheus Nachtergaele  Actor 
Phelipe Haagensen  Actor 
Seu Jorge  Actor 
Jonathan Haagensen  Actor 
Daniel Zettel  Actor 
Alice Braga  Actor 
Douglas Silva  Actor 
Roberta Rodriguez Silvia  Actor 
Michel de Souza Gomes  Actor 

Country: Brazil