Summer Homework

Summer Homework

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City Of God

City of God (Cidade de Deus) is a Brazilian crime drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund. It was released in 2002 in it’s home country but only became worldwide in 2003. It was first a novel written by Paulo Lins in 1997 but got adapted by Bráulio Mantovani. The film was set in Rio de Janeiro suburb of Cidade de Deus; between the end of the 60s and the beginning of the 80s; The film depicting the war between the drug dealer Li'l Zé and criminal Knockout Ned.

The film is seen through the eyes of the young Rocket, an aspiring photographer and it's his photographer's eye that guides us through the years of blood and bullets in the slums of Brazil. But Rocket is not the traditional protagonist; he is merely the door through which the audience enters the story. It's no coincidence that he is a would be photographer for it is what he sees, what he shows us, that is most important rather than his own tale. We first meet him in the opening chicken chase caught between the police and the gangs. From this cliffhanger moment we are sent back to the beginning, to the formative years of all the characters in the mid-sixties. But not all will be alive when we return to Rockets perilous situation almost two hours later.