City Of God Essay
Director Research Project: Fernando Meirelles
Fernando Meirelles is incontestably the face of modern Brazilian cinema. Not only has he been successful in bringing mass international recognition to the long neglected favelas of Rio de Janeiro through his directing of movies such as City of God (2003), but he has also asserted a solid position within the North American film industry with films such 360 (2011). The response the former received after its release was unprecedented in national cinema. Internationally speaking, City of God, or Cidade de Deus, was also very well recognized by critics as well as the general public. More than simply national and international revenue as well as regard, however, the movie provoked extraordinary debate in the Brazilian media and amongst …show more content…
The opening sequence of City of God, in particular, utilises fast, choppy editing designed to launch the spectator into the chaotic streets of the favela. Some of the first images the audience are confronted with are the violent sharpening of a knife rapidly cross-cut with shots of a runaway chicken being pursued through narrow urban streets. These scenes all occur to the jubilant rhythms of Latin music, and the runaway chicken, in its attempt to escape slaughter, leads the spectator to the first and most dramatic point in the film’s narrative, a heavily armed standoff between the ruling gang of Cidade de Deus and the police. Caught in the middle of these two warring groups is a young man, Rocket, armed only with a camera. At this point the shot rotates 360° around Rocket and rapidly transports the viewer back in time to an earlier point in the narrative. With the the exuberant spurts of movement and editing, the director effectively engages the viewer with its dynamic atmosphere and builds momentum to critical scenes as he introduces the favela
Fernando Meirelles is incontestably the face of modern Brazilian cinema. Not only has he been successful in bringing mass international recognition to the long neglected favelas of Rio de Janeiro through his directing of movies such as City of God (2003), but he has also asserted a solid position within the North American film industry with films such 360 (2011). The response the former received after its release was unprecedented in national cinema. Internationally speaking, City of God, or Cidade de Deus, was also very well recognized by critics as well as the general public. More than simply national and international revenue as well as regard, however, the movie provoked extraordinary debate in the Brazilian media and amongst …show more content…
The opening sequence of City of God, in particular, utilises fast, choppy editing designed to launch the spectator into the chaotic streets of the favela. Some of the first images the audience are confronted with are the violent sharpening of a knife rapidly cross-cut with shots of a runaway chicken being pursued through narrow urban streets. These scenes all occur to the jubilant rhythms of Latin music, and the runaway chicken, in its attempt to escape slaughter, leads the spectator to the first and most dramatic point in the film’s narrative, a heavily armed standoff between the ruling gang of Cidade de Deus and the police. Caught in the middle of these two warring groups is a young man, Rocket, armed only with a camera. At this point the shot rotates 360° around Rocket and rapidly transports the viewer back in time to an earlier point in the narrative. With the the exuberant spurts of movement and editing, the director effectively engages the viewer with its dynamic atmosphere and builds momentum to critical scenes as he introduces the favela