Seen this movie before in a film festival way back in Manila, but City of God is one movie you can watch again and again. It's chock full of characters, and each one as real as can be. The movie is supposedly based on a real story and real characters.Basically, the movie chronicles the life and times of two kids living in Rio de Janeiro's City of God slums. One grew up to become a newspaper photographer, while the other became a feared gang leader. Even though Buscape's brother is part of the dreaded Tender Trio gang who robs motels and gas trucks, he wants no part in the violence - content to just go to school, hang around with his classmates at the beach, and take pictures. Li'l Ze on the other hand, goes on a rampage and took over all the drug dealerships in the city, leaving only Carrot's territory intact because he is a friend. He would've killed off Carrot sooner, if not for Bene who keeps him in check.
On Bene's farewell party, Li'l Ze was turned down by a woman on his invitation to dance, and he just goes raving mad. He picks a fight with Carrot, then picks on the woman's boyfriend (Knockout Ned) to strip and dance. An assassination attempt on Li'l Ze goes horribly wrong, and Bene got killed instead. And it's all-out war in the City of God. Every man and kid is either with Li'l Ze or Carrot and Knockout Ned. Everyone has a gun, and doesn't hesitate to use it. Things get pretty out of hand with the daily raids and killings. Arms dealers came in to sell bigger and bigger guns to the gangs. Police kept out of City of God, figuring the hoodlums will kill each other off, and they'll just come in and pick up the spoils.
Things didn't work out for everyone as each one of them died like flies. Fortunately for Buscape (a.k.a. Rocket), he was in the thick of the action when the police decided to come in and wipe out the gangs once and for all. Like an embedded journalist, he managed to take pictures of the police taking a huge bribe from Li'l Ze, and Li'l Ze being murdered by the Runts, a bunch of kid gangster-wannabes who later grew up to become to most notorious gang in Rio, the Comando Vermelho or Red Command.
A wonderful, breathtaking film from Fernando Meirelles.
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