I saw City of God last night and thougt i was excellent, very much like a Latin Goodfellas, if even more violent. Given the fact that most of actors are actually street children it makes it even more amazing. The way is showed little to no escape for anyone from the hoodlums or the city was sobering and it had enough humour, and light-hearted moments to keep it real. I would throughly recommened this. THe camera work was original and the way the story tracked back to fit together for the climiax was very well done.
Many spoilers ahead.
I though the best parts were when Lil Ze was gunned down by the street kids and when the main character says ‘Lil ze couldn’t hurt me, but the cops could’, made you realise the fact there was no justice. One of the most chilling scenes of any movie I have seen was where the very young Lil Ze (then Dice) killed the motel patrons and while laughing like a child shooting a water pistol. :eek:
Oh, the movie
I thought you were gonna spoil S. Augustine’s treatise for me. I’m still nowhere near the end of that thick book.
One thing I’m interested in is whether you’d call the ending happy or not. Has the narrator sold out, or is he doing the only thing he can by not exposing the cops?
I’ve never heard of the movie. I was trying to figure out what spoilers there could be for Augustine’s book. What, somebody out there doesn’t know how it all comes out?
Cal, have you read a lot of Augustine? I felt obligated, when younger, to read the City of God and the Confessions, and walked away strongly disliking Augustine as a big jerk. He was seriously over the top about the pears, and the part in City about how the nuns who were raped shouldn’t add murder to adultery on their list of sins and commit suicide from shame totally infuriated me. Since then, I’ve read some sermons and commentaries, and I have to say that my opinon of Augustine has really changed. He was amazingly insightful about people, and a very subtle thinker. (Plus, I’m not 16 anymore, which probably also helps.) Do you think I should try re-reading these two again?
I didn’t like it. It was all about shock value and as I’m a brazilian therewas no shock to me. It was like the papers set to film.
In response to Fiat Lux, i dont think the ending was particularly happy, but its was slighlty optimistic, after all he has a camera, a job, a way out of the favellas.But we see those kids deciding who to knock off and its probably actually gonna happen. If he had sold the cops out whose to say what would have happened. They were probably all crooked so the evidence would have been lost and Rocket would have been beaten or killed.