It may not have done the Rio de Janeiro tourism board any favours, yet City of God is just as fresh and energetic a watch as it was ten years ago.
Beginning with the vibrant and surprisingly heart-stopping chase of a chicken escaping the clutches of an armed gang, City of God is a film that immediately grabs audience’s attention and director Fernando Meirelles holds tight for the breeziest 130 minutes you’ll ever experience in film.
With a multi-layered storyline spanning decades and some particularly unsettling scenes (mostly involving a psychopath child-turned-gangster named Li’l Ze), the film was always going to be a hard sell for international audiences, particularly those unaccustomed to subtitled features.
However, after being released upon an unsuspecting world in 2002, City of God eventually grossed an incredible $30 million worldwide, while the film also sold 3.1 million tickets in its native country.
Believe it or not, despite its huge worldwide adulation, City of God wasn’t actually nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars during its release year and instead settled for four nominations (Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing) and no wins.
As cinematic children go, Li’l Ze is even more fearsome than Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone
The film itself focuses on boys (Rocket and the aforementioned Li’l Ze) whose lives take dangerous and wildly diverging paths. While Rocket attempts to eschew the tempting, glamourous life of a gangster, the aforementioned Ze revels in bloodshed and posturing.
While the cinematography and soundtrack are inviting, the film showcases a side of Brazilian life that had not been seen by the majority of filmgoers prior to its release, making Rio look like one of the most incredibly dangerous locations in the world, despite its beautiful veneer.
Perhaps the biggest testament to the quality of City of God is the legacy it has left behind, with ultra-violent Brazilian crime thrillers Elite Squad and Elite Squad 2 receiving international notieriety in its wake, while the film even inspired a critically lauded spin-off TV series named City of Men.
Whether you’re typically averse to subtitled features or are of a squeamish disposition, there’s simply no excuse not to lose yourself in City of God, particularly in this, the year of its 10th anniversary. In fact, we’d even go as far as to say that it’s the best gangster movie since Goodfellas and hasn’t been bettered since.
For more cult films, check out the Jameson Cult Film Club.
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