City of God, directed by Fernando Meirelles 2002 is about rival gangs in Brazil that have a constant battle which some characters hate and want to leave this rough life style as they have other ambitions like Rocket wants to become a photographer. As Brazil is such a poor country many people make their money by selling things such as fish or the best selling product, drugs. Drug dealers in Brazil are the richest and they show it off with their gold jewellery and designer clothing when many other people wear rags. Knowing this Lil Ze’s gang thinks that the best thing to do to earn money and shut down his rival gangs are to kill the drug dealers and take over their businesses.
Even the children of Brazil are getting involved in these gangs as it’s what they are growing up into and is all around them. They don’t know any better as it’s what men in their country are doing so they break the law and break into bakery’s to get their thrills and some money. They always seem to think they will get away with their conviction because of their age however they get punished by being either shot in the hand or the foot by Lil Ze’s gang. This shows that they don’t care about who they hurt even if its children who are copying their bad behaviour however the rival gang, Knock out Ned wont kill or rob some people if they take a liking to them for example a good looking girl in the bakery or a friends brother on the bus.
In the film there is a strobe light used in the club when Benny wants to leave with Angelica to get away from the gangs. The strobe light creates a disorienting effect when we don’t know what’s going on, we see that guns are being shot however we don’t see who until the light stops. Other lighting used is natural light as most of the film is shot in a location or in a dark room. There are some binary opposites in the film for example good and bad, ugly and handsome and
The cinematography in the film has many different shots for example a panning shot when a character turns his head and we see what he is looking at. There are also point of view shots when the characters look at something down the street or at each other. Nearer the end of the film there are many different camera angles of the damage done such as
There is both diegetic and non diegetic sound used in City of God both used to make things seem more realistic for example a gun fire and the non diegetic sound helps to build the atmosphere. An example of this is when the music is very fast moving which shows the busy life style of the film when we see the normal day to day life in Brazil to a gang fight with guns. I think that the non diegetic sound helps to build tension as when Lil Ze enters the room showing off his new image of clothing the music stops which shows drama and the reaction of the people currently in the room. I think that it could show the fear of the people in his gang and maybe even though they are with him they would rather be on his side than being the ones being shot at. Some examples of diegetic sound often used are gun shots and camera clicks when Rocket is taking photos of Lil Ze’s gang.
I liked City of God however its not something I would like to watch again as it was very confusing with the subtitles to keep up with and what’s going on in the footage. I thought that it was good that as the characters changed they changed their names either for better or worse as when Lil Ze changed his name from Lil Dice he changed it from being a boy to a man and that he ment business now. However when Rocket changes his name he changes it for respect as hes made himself a photographer.
Even the children of Brazil are getting involved in these gangs as it’s what they are growing up into and is all around them. They don’t know any better as it’s what men in their country are doing so they break the law and break into bakery’s to get their thrills and some money. They always seem to think they will get away with their conviction because of their age however they get punished by being either shot in the hand or the foot by Lil Ze’s gang. This shows that they don’t care about who they hurt even if its children who are copying their bad behaviour however the rival gang, Knock out Ned wont kill or rob some people if they take a liking to them for example a good looking girl in the bakery or a friends brother on the bus.
In the film there is a strobe light used in the club when Benny wants to leave with Angelica to get away from the gangs. The strobe light creates a disorienting effect when we don’t know what’s going on, we see that guns are being shot however we don’t see who until the light stops. Other lighting used is natural light as most of the film is shot in a location or in a dark room. There are some binary opposites in the film for example good and bad, ugly and handsome and
The cinematography in the film has many different shots for example a panning shot when a character turns his head and we see what he is looking at. There are also point of view shots when the characters look at something down the street or at each other. Nearer the end of the film there are many different camera angles of the damage done such as
There is both diegetic and non diegetic sound used in City of God both used to make things seem more realistic for example a gun fire and the non diegetic sound helps to build the atmosphere. An example of this is when the music is very fast moving which shows the busy life style of the film when we see the normal day to day life in Brazil to a gang fight with guns. I think that the non diegetic sound helps to build tension as when Lil Ze enters the room showing off his new image of clothing the music stops which shows drama and the reaction of the people currently in the room. I think that it could show the fear of the people in his gang and maybe even though they are with him they would rather be on his side than being the ones being shot at. Some examples of diegetic sound often used are gun shots and camera clicks when Rocket is taking photos of Lil Ze’s gang.
I liked City of God however its not something I would like to watch again as it was very confusing with the subtitles to keep up with and what’s going on in the footage. I thought that it was good that as the characters changed they changed their names either for better or worse as when Lil Ze changed his name from Lil Dice he changed it from being a boy to a man and that he ment business now. However when Rocket changes his name he changes it for respect as hes made himself a photographer.
A good response, I am glad you enjoyed the film and managed to pick out some interesting sections and points to comment upon. Hopefully you will get a little more used to subtitles as we continue the course!
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