City of God: Analysis

Set in the 1960s, City of God shows the full extent of the situation in Brazil at that time, as the character’s represent the lengths people would go to survive within such an uncivilized city. Rocket, the protagonist within City of God, narrates his past and then present journey throughout the film, embarking on a mission to make something of him rather than ending up like his apposing character and antagonist, Lil’ze. Formally known as Lil’dice (an unappreciated member of a small time gang) decides to rebel against his own and become a leader of his own gang. The films depicts the lives of the youth in the City of God, as well as showing the effect it has on the even younger generation, who receive no education and involve themselves from an early age with drugs and extreme violence. The contrast between Lil’ze and Rocket shows the difference within people in the City of God, showing the positive and negative sides of the City, as Rocket documents each event which happens within his newly found job as a photographer at a newspaper publication and follows Lil'ze's rise to power and downfall. 

Compared to the other two gangster films we have focused on within this unit, I feel City of God is very different from them both (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrells and Scarface). As a single strand film, meaning that although there are many elements contributing to the story line, that Rocket's character over everything else is the central importance to the narrative, as he is the one who is a witness to the entire situation in the City of God. This differs from the other films, as I feel that they either have one character and minor characters, who do not have an adverse effect on the film or implement any other importance other than to progress the character's story-line or back story, such as in Scarface, where Tony Montana is the main interest within the film. Which although means they are both single strand, they have both been put across a different way to show what type of film it is which we are watching. In City of God, we are highly focused on Rocket, but the other character's are given a chance to show their back story, such as Lil'ze, where Rocket isn't involved in, which says to us that although Rocket is the main focus, there are other important characters. This means they are less minor characters than say in Scarface, where Tony Montana only relies on the minor characters for progression rather than for us to see their back-story or feel connected with them.

City of God is not much of a film which comes across as an enigma to me, as the actions of the characters usually have ammo, meaning we can understand why they have done something unethical. For instance, Lil'ze felt as though because he was young, he was unappreciated by the other gang members, where then he decided to rebel against them during a heist and does exactly what the gang told everyone not to do - kill the people in the hotel they were stealing from. From this with can connect the reasoning to the action, although brutal and completely uncalled for, we can see why Lil'ze has managed to become a monster. This tiny bit of power then gives Lil'ze the confidence to become his own boss, becoming one of the most feared men in the City of God. Other circumstances, such as the lack of money, food and education, gives us reason to understand why the characters, especially the young ones, are turning to a life of crime - stealing, killing, swearing and taking/selling drugs. All these things which are done are due to the conditions the younger generation within the City of God have to endure, as the older and idolized characters are showing them that they should be like them, powerful and turning to criminal acts to get by. 

The main climax within this film is definitely the when Lil'ze is unexpectedly killed by the runts, who have been meaning to get back at Lil'ze for awhile after being incredibly violent towards them, when ordering one of them to be killed and the other shot in the foot. This turn of events, with the runts and everyone else in the City of God getting redemption over the cruelty that Lil'ze has put upon them when being in-control of the City of God. It is apparent that the equilibrium throughout this scene is then restored, as we are shown the changes of the characters after the death of Lil'ze and how much impact his power had on the whole story line. With his death, we also see Rocket's rise to his goal, as he becomes an extremely credited photographer, which was the resolution of the entire narrative meaning that this turn of events has impacted every characters life, including the central focus, Rocket. 

When it comes to genre, there are many things which tell us that City of God is a film of the gangster genre. The first of these techniques used to target this particular genre is the way in which violence is used within the film. Of course, being a gangster film, this immediately tells the audience that there are going to be themes of violence - but once again, I feel that the use of violence within City of God has been done in such a way that is different to the other films we have looked at. For instance, in City of God, the main characters are young adults and children. This differs to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Scarface, as the characters in those films are all adults - and rather than using emotional manipulation, they get straight to the point with predictable violence with only adults engaging in it. With City of God, children are used to bring the emotions of the audience out, as seeing a child swear or commit crimes or even being killed, which is likely to affect the audience more than if an adult is seen to do so, as we are not used to seeing children of a young age engage in these sort of activities. A convention used to symbolize the genre is by using locations to create a particular atmosphere. In many films, location is key to setting the mood and even genre of the film. This is no different for City of God, as it is set in a location with actually exists and the director wants this to come across to the audience as much as possible, as the conditions we can visually see within the filming are poor - for instance the houses are dirty, small and inadequate for even a small family such as Rocket's. 

Another way in which from the techniques in this film we can tell that this is a gangster film, is from how money and drugs are an extreme importance to the characters and progression of the story line. This is evident as the main characters involve themselves with drugs and throughout the film we see that the problems evolving in City of God are generally to do with either drugs or money - such as Lil'ze. The last crucial convention within this film symbolizing the gangster is how power is represented. The aim of the game for many of the characters is to be as violent as they can, have a lot of money and sell drugs - which contrasts as to what Rocket's intentions are, as his goal is to become a photographer, because he has a passion and is different to the other characters. Power is seen as desirable, and if you are not powerful or have a good reputation within the City of God, then you simply won't survive as the other stronger characters, such as Lil'ze, will potentially see you as a target. Power is also seen as desirable, as the conditions the characters live in are poor, and they strive to have everything they want in life, which is the same for many people, but is more obvious in City of God as we have their current life contrasting to what could be if they are able to rise to power. 

One of the things that really stood out to me about City of God is the way in which children are represented within the film. In real life, children are not as violent, independent and disadvantaged as those shown in the film, which I feel is key to showing why most of the characters, excluding Rocket, have ended up involving themselves with the things they have. For instance, throughout the film we do not see adult characters e.g. parents of the runts, telling them what is right or wrong, which shows us that they do not have much impact in their lives or that they feel that they cannot control their children - showing how bad the situation is in City of God. We also do not see the children in Education, a part from one scene in the film in which they skived off anyway. This shows that education firstly, does not interest or worry them as they resort to other means of earning money, such as drug dealing and working for the older characters such as Lil'ze or that they cannot afford education due to being under privileged. We also see that the children are generally dirty wearing ragged clothes, again backing up the idea of the children being underprivileged. I feel the representation of children is that they have no one to show them right or wrong, and they have to be more mature than the average child due to this and the circumstances that they deal with in the City of God. 

When it comes to men and women, they are portrayed in a way which relates to the stereotype very much - Men are generally very strong, the dominant sex, who use/see women as sexual objects rather than an equivalent to them. Because all of the men within this film are shown to be violent, I feel as though this shows that rather than all men being this way, that the location which the film is set in has a major impact on them as they feel they have to be strong and brave all the time because of what happens within the City of God - murders, drug dealing and rape. I also feel as because most of the characters used are male and none are female who are strong or are a member of a gang, this shows that men have more of a tenancy to involve themselves than women. Women within City of God are seen as sex objects and nothing else, as whenever a woman is in the film, it is to do with the characters having a love interest (such as Rocket when he fancied the girl). I feel this also shows that women are seen as weak and that men can objectify them as much as they want, as Lil'ze felt as though he had the right to rape Ned's girlfriend right in front of him. The film also shows that women aren't relevant enough to the story line, because it mainly to do with drugs and violence and generally women do not get themselves involved with that sort of stuff where as men are more likely to. 

As for the target audience for City of God, I would say they would be predominantly male from the age 16+. Due to the contents of the film, I feel that this would attract a more mature audience rather than a young one because the violent scenes and fowl language is not suitable for a particular audience. I also feel that because of the cast, which is mainly male, a female audience member may feel intimidated by this as they cannot relate to a female character or wouldn't want to as they are represented in a negative way in the film, which means that men would be more likely to be interested as they are cast in a way which is more acceptable as we expect men to be violent or be interested in violent things. This audience will be interested in different types of gangster films, such as Italian American, English and any other main gangster based films. They will also be interested in geographical locations, and documentaries as this film depicts a location of high interest. The audience may also speak Portuguese, as the film is set in Brazil and they are speaking in the Portuguese language throughout the entire film. 

Throughout this film, there are two scenes which particularly caught my attention when thinking about how violence in used within City of God. The first is the scene in which then Lil'dice rebelled against his own gang and shot everyone after the heist at the hotel. This scene shocked me quite a bit, when thinking of the character and how young he was and how he could manage to do something so disgusting and laugh whilst doing it. This shows how twisted this particular character is and set the scene and idea of the entire film, as this was at the very beginning and showed us what else the film had in store. I feel this scene was particularly violent and upsetting, because the other characters were able to show mercy, where as because Lil'ze is obviously not mentally stable, he was able to kill everyone without having a conscience. What is interesting about this scene, is that we don't actually see Lil'dice kill the people directly, we just see him pointing and shooting the gun whilst laughing and the door closing slowly as the scene changes to an over the shoulder shot. We hear the gun shots and then are shown a montage of clips where the hotel people are lying dead on the beds and in the reception area. This was actually in my opinion more effective than if we actually saw him shoot them, as it is left to our imagination how much damage Lil'ze had caused that night in the hotel. I feel another reason for not showing us the shooting, is to do with the amount of the violence within the film. I feel maybe if this scene was how I said it might have been, it would not surpass people watching the start of it, as the audience have to warm up to these sort of themes rather than seeing complete violence in one go. 

Another scene which was very violent in shocking way is the one in which Steak with Fries has to decide between killing and injuring  two small children, which is a very difficult scene to watch as seeing any child being harmed is difficult, let alone ones which are crying and pleading not to be hurt. What makes this scene so violent, is the fact that the person who has to do the shooting is throughout this scene being mocked for being a wimp, and to show his worth has to hurt these two children who have done wrong to Lil'ze for stealing when they were told not to. Steak with Fries clearly does not want  to do it, but he knows if he doesn't that his life will be harder than ever if he disobeys the pressure. I was shocked to learn whilst watching that we actually see the children get shot, which I've never seen in a film and it made me feel quite uncomfortable. This is why I feel the violence has been used a specific way which is unusual - which directly targets the emotions by manipulating them rather than using gore. It also makes us realize that this type of thing may actually happen in real life, and the audience begin to reflect on what they have been shown. The violence in this scene I would say is the worst out of the entire film, due to the characters being harmed and the effect I feel it would have had on the audience as it has me.