CITY OF GOD

 

CITY OF GOD (LUND & MIREILLES, 2002)

Outside of Europe: 

• Shift away from European o filmmaking genres, history and identities. 
• Geographical cultural and linguistic differences. 
• Social and cultural contexts engage with issues of world development and poverty. 

OVERVIEW:

• Non-professional actors 
• Real places and spaces - importance of location in world cinema 
• Narrative structure is complex - three major strands 
• Spans the 1960s-1980s 
• The cyclical nature of the narrative parallels the idea of the cycle of crime, the repetition and even hopelessness
• A male world - representation of masculinity 
• Power and corruption

Discussion points - first 35 mins

• Initial starting point - gang chasing a chicken who is caught in between the narrator and the police
• The flashback to the 60's 
• The context of the favela's - the governments neglect, the lack of essential resources in the housing projects
• The motel massacre - Lil' dice (shoots Goose - Rocket's brother)
• Shift in time to the 1970s - presence of women - Rocket and the hippies 
• Lil' Ze - takes over drug business in "apartment" and builds drug empire 

STUDY OF THE OPENING SEQUENCE (key elements, representation, contexts) 

Camera work and mine en scene: 

• Neutral toned colours in the landscape and clothing (brown, sand, beige, grey, Burgundy) - These colours make a suggestion of the environment to be barren in agriculture, deprived and dirty, relating to the representation of the slums. 

• Mise-en-scene of the zoom in of knife being sharpened, then quickly editing back to children and community - this manifests the danger and violence of the film from the outset of its beginning. 

• The chickens escape from the pen is filmed with a tracking POV camera technique, perhaps even handheld due to the shaky movement.

• Montage of the preparation of the chicken being cooked creates a tense atmosphere. 

• Extreme close up of Lil' Ze's face laughing is certainly unsettling, suggests his violence in the future of the film. 

• The chickens escape could perhaps be representative of everyones disparity to leave the City Of God, its chance of escape was low, though it did manage to get significantly far, avoiding being shot, foreboding the closeness to escape that many of the characters have the chance to do, yet somehow get brought back

• Restless style from the output

1960'S "The Tender Trio" and the gas truck

• Lawlessness - representation 

• Children with access to guns - representations of youth and violence 

• When running from police, camera makes it look like they are not going anywhere, so feels kids are trapped (SPACE)

• EVEN though a wider space, we still feel trapped

• Foreshadowing of events to come: hierarchy - gangs and non-gang members, the trio have guns and break the law - others follow; giving them stolen money

• Steal from the rich and give to the poor - moral grounding in the city of god 

• The police are a gang of legitimacy 

• Masculinity and power - representation of male characters 

• Representation of youth seizing opportunities to drift into crime and violence 

• Tender Trio acting as dictators (inside they have power) 

Moving to the Favelas sequence 

• Non-diegetic music and VoiceOver - upbeat and melodic tune, juxtaposes the position and landscape, ironic seeming their situation is rather dire (underdevelopment of place - representation) 

• Quickly changing camera angles to establish the area which it didn't do earlier, POVS, Mid-shots, high tilt shots, wide shots. Shows entire landscape. 

• "We are not the picture postcard image of Rio De Janeiro" - we begin to trust Rocket, he has awareness of the corruption. 

• White or light coloured clothing when people moving to the favelas - white usually represents innocence (people seen as victims of the flood)

• Slow moving handheld camera through the crowd - "a last goodbye" to the area - moving slowly - almost as though it's against their will - absence of action in the government 

• Movement of the population - reinforced compellingly by. the camera 

The motel sequence: Making the place with Lil' Dice to driving away 

• Set up by Lil' Dice who hoodwinks the others

• Steals the money 

• Representation of violence - amongst young members of the favelas 

• Point of departure in the narrative turning point for the characters 

• Restricted narrative

• Montage - the trio going into different rooms - comedic elements to the sequence (Shakesperian relief) 

• When going from the shooting to the trio driving around - shots "sliding" around the screen; swipe editing - is this real? 

• Low key lighting at the start, camera filming from a distance heightens the suspicion. 

• Unwholesomeness of the location - sustained in the lighting 

• Diegetic sound - screaming and arguing 

• Upbeat contrapuntal non-diegetic music - effective for the comic relief

Benny's farewell 

• Coexistent narrative threads underpin sequence: Benny and Lil' Ze, Lil' Ze and Knockout Ned, Rocket and Benny

• Underlying themes around male representation and masculinity (and so female representations and femininity) 

• A sense of a wider community present: the "grooves", Samba, the Soul group and religious group

• Theme of escape - Benny getting out and Lil'Ze being trapped in this life

• Rocket's location in the sequence suggests his point of vantage, being inside and outside favela and the crime 

• Giving Rocket the camera - a motif 

• Emphasis on Benny and Lil' Ze's friendship

• Flashback to their childhood in the 60's 

• Sense of the 1970's - music scene (infiltrates other parts of the globe - US cultural imperialism) 

• Rivalry between Carrot and Lil' Ze underpins sequence 

• Begins with wide high angle and had shots of people dancing on the floor

• MCU - tilted angle and then focus on rocket in the gallery as a dj 

• Rockets V/O - his position in the sequence matches his place in the story overall 

• Quick camera movement and edits - atmosphere of the setting but also introducing a sense of spiral effect - events getting increasingly out of control 

• Escalation of chaos from small things to the final violence and horror 

• Sound works in parallel to visuals until tension introduced with Lil' Ze confronting and humiliating Knockout Ned. 

• The cut to Lil' Ze shooting his gone is almost reminiscent of the final scene of a play or Act 1. 

• Two shot of Benny and Lil'Ze (sepia filter) in MCU - reinforces childhood friendship 

• Light on Benny is brighter in these shots 

• Lil' Ze's feelings about Benny leaving are confused within his recent rejection by Knockout Ned's girlfriend leading him to call Angelica a "bitch"

• Lil Ze is not comfortable in this setting as he is in favelas - camera shots move in to show his loneliness and awkwardness - CU, Centre of frame - his isolation and vulnerability 

• We are put in Lil' Ze's POV

• In his own way, he is outside of events due to awkwardness with women and social environment - not the same as Rocket. 

mid shots, centre frame, feel included in the scenery - same height, dancing

montage structure from the onset of the scene, showing the varieties of people 

Structure - occurrences happening at the same time

Tracking shots, people going through

Panning shots with Benny going around the different groups 

High angle, tilting capturing action below 

Lil Ze's vulnerability - trying to stay cool though being rejected 

People get reunited before benny's death - broken up by the event 

Amalgamation - individual and group movement 

Contrapuntal use of sound 

When Benny and Lil'Ze are talking - crosses the line - something not right; they are swapping places, things confused 

Stop and start editing aligned with flashing lighting - gives the effect of static shots / images 

crowded background - cutting to circular gel lights - theatrical motion 

Absence of influence of the third wave feminism 

Global influence of America youth culture