Cidade de Deus (2002)

Voti degli utenti:

8.8/10   

Directors:

Fernando Meirelles
Kátia Lund (co-director)

Scrittori:

Paulo Lins (novel)
Bráulio Mantovani (screenplay)

Data di uscita:

2002 (Russia)

Genere:

Crimine | Drammatico | Thriller

Slogan:

If you run you're dead...if you stay, you're dead again. Period.

Plot:

Two boys growing up in a violent neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro take different paths: one becomes a photographer, the other a drug dealer.

Plot Keywords:

City | City Of God | Photographer | Violence | Growing Up

Premi:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 49 wins & 25 nominations

Recensioni degli utenti:

Gangs of Rio

Cast

Alexandre Rodrigues	...	Buscapé - Rocket
Leandro Firmino	...	Zé Pequeno - Li'l Zé (as Leandro Firmino da Hora)
Phellipe Haagensen	...	Bené - Benny
Douglas Silva	...	Dadinho - Li'l Dice
Jonathan Haagensen	...	Cabeleira - Shaggy
Matheus Nachtergaele	...	Sandro Cenoura - Carrot
Seu Jorge	...	Mané Galinha - Knockout Ned
Jefechander Suplino	...	Alicate - Clipper
Alice Braga	...	Angélica
Emerson Gomes	...	Barbantinho - Stringy
Edson Oliveira	...	Barbantinho Adulto - Older Stringy
Michel de Souza	...	Bené Criança - Young Benny (as Michel De Souza Gomes)
Roberta Rodrigues	...	Berenice - Bernice
Luis Otávio	...	Buscapé Criança - Young Rocket
Maurício Marques	...	Cabeção - Melonhead

Alias:

City of God (International: English title) (UK)
God's Town (International: English title)
La cité de Dieu (France)
Città di Dio (Italy) [it]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong brutal violence, sexuality, drug content and language.

Durata:

130 min | Canada:135 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Nazionalità:

Brazil | France

Lingua:

Portoghese

Colore:

Colore

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sonoro:

Dolby Digital

Divieti:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:M18 (video rating) (version 2) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | South Korea:18 | Israel:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Brazil:16 | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Germany:16 (bw) | Hong Kong:III | Italy:T | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R | Singapore:R21

Luoghi riprese:

Cidade de Deus, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Compagnia:

O2 Filmes

Curiosità:

The last shot of the movie, where the little boy loses his slipper and comes back to pick it, was not scripted. The incident really happened during the shooting and director Fernando Meirelles kept the take because it helped to highlight the boy's presence.

Errori:

Errori rivelatori: When the Tender Trio open the garage to steal the car after the motel robbery, the car drives out before the boys have completely entered the garage.

Citazioni:

Rocket: You need more than guts to be a good gangster, you need ideas.

Collegamenti:

Citato in Levels (2008)

Colonna sonora:

Nem Vem Que Não Tem

Gangs of Rio

If you're unlucky to be born into a socially, economically and racially isolated community that has poverty, crime, drugs and violence as its everyday realities, the odds are stacked incredibly high against you. It literally takes so much effort, strength, struggle and plain ol' good fortune to simply avoid becoming a gangster, let alone do anything more with life. Most who find themselves in the situation described above never even enter this fight and out of those that do - only the rare ones succeed.

"City of God" depicts this conundrum masterfully.

In a Rio slum called Cidade de Deus we meet character after character that has the right idea, knowledge and courage to get out but somehow always ends up being pulled right back into this vicious circle. Becoming a hoodlum in Cidade de Deus isn't just a fringe career option for disenchanted rebels and social outcasts - it's the main industry.

The images of gun toting pre-teen killers are very disturbing and Meirelles uses them relentlessly to underscore just how hopeless and frighteningly predetermined life is for these kids. Many of them can't read or write but already know how to use a gun and kill without remorse. In a particularly harrowing scene, local drug lord Ze Pequeno or Lil' Ze (Leandro Firmino da Hora) exacts revenge on a disobedient gang of 9 and 10 year olds by incapacitating two of them and forcing one of his own kid soldiers, as initiation of sorts, to choose which one of the two he wants to kill. Faced with death, one of the kids starts crying crocodile tears; suddenly all the bravado is gone and he is shown for what he truly is - a desperately misdirected infant.

'If only these people had more options....' is the sentiment reinforced with every gruesome event.

Of course, this lifestyle comes a little more naturally to some than to others. Ze Pequeno, for example, from an early age when he was known as Dadinho / Lil' Dice shows a considerable lack of aversion to blood and death. In another aptly choreographed scene so that we don't know what exactly happened until much later, he more than 'holds his own' alongside much older gangsters during a motel stickup.

Also on hand is a colourful palette of characters. From our narrator Buscape / Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) whose ticket out of the slum is his love of photography over to people like laidback Bene / Benny (Philippe Haagensen), followed by Ze's fierce rival Cenoura / Carrot (Matheus Nachtergaele) or good guy turned bad (although it's not so simple) Mane Galinha / Knockout Ned (Seu Jorge) we see a multidimensional, pulsating, alive community that seems in need of a strong, sustained outside push to finally stop chasing its own tail and get out of this destructive cycle.