City od God Short analysis
City of God is narrated by Rocket, a boy growing up in one of Rio's favelas, slum towns that exist outside the laws and popular image of Rio. Through a disjointed, redoubling and multi-layered narrative, Rocket tells his constructed version of the city of God, built around the stories of its gang leaders. Through constant acts of violence, of which Rocket is an observe and eventual participant, the youth of the favela are connected. While the plot is driven by acts of individual violence, the film evokes a range of violent forces, not confined to the corporeal violence of murder and gang assassination.
Modernism was created as a way to break from traditional fiction and create something new and original, some of the ideas which make up modernism can be transferred over to City of God...
- The main character and the story teller of the film, Rocket, gives us an unbiased and also a subjective view of the events in the film.
- The film follows a non linear narrative - ' end - beginning - middle - end sequence ' ( this is often found in gangster films) - however not commonly found in films which wish to raise an issue.
Cinematography
- Director - Fernando Mierelles was heavily influenced by fellow film make, Martin Scorsese. The use of sweeping shots and freeze and zoom shots are also typical in Scorsese's films such as Goodfellas.
- In the first scene of COG the camera is used as the main point of telling the story rather than using dialogue.
- Beginning of film - when the favela was a mere housing development, we feel relaxed and there is an open atmosphere due to the camera ability to move freely.
- Favela - a Brazilian shack or shanty town ( slum)
- Middle era of film -There is a drastic change when Lil Ze's rise to power. The camera is more static and up close to the characters most of the time which creates a claustrophobic feel to the cramped favelas and when Lil Ze is in shot he mostly shot in a low angle making him look powerful.
- Final scenes of the film -Many angles are from the point of view of the narrator, Rocket, as well as his own camera, which makes the final segments of the film look very documentary like and raw in its footage.
Editing has been used carefully in this film and much like the cinematography, aspects used are typical of Scorsese films.
- Mierelles uses fast cut editing, this technique is not typically found in films showing 'issues' and also avoids making the film feel long in length. ( Which La Haine follows as it is over 24hours)
- It is also representative of the chaotic lives of the favelas.
Mise-en-scene: Lighting
- Lighting and colours is used differently in the two eras of the film
- The earliest era sees a gold tint and almost a harsh light to it. The colour not only represents the hot climate of the country, it also represents the golden age of the favelas and finally it can show the hope and innocence of the children who live there and who dream of escaping poverty and finding fame and fortune.
- The second era is very different to the first, the golden colour and bright lighting is discarded for a grimy brown and grey colour and dark lighting, which is representative of the children realising their fate, their destiny of being stuck in the favelas as well as the war of the drug users.
