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City of God
Directors: Kátia Lund, Fernando Meirelles
Actors: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, and Jonathan Haagensen
Rated: R (Restricted)
Retail Price (not our price): $19.99
Release Date: 2004-06-08
Theatrical Release Date: 2002
Studio: Miramax Films
Run Time: 130 minutes
Format: Array
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Discs: 1


Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com
Like cinematic dynamite, City of God lights a fuse under its squalid Brazilian ghetto, and we're a captive audience to its violent explosion. The titular favela is home to a seething army of impoverished children who grow, over the film's ambitious 20-year timeframe, into cutthroat killers, drug lords, and feral survivors. In the vortex of this maelstrom is L'il Z (Leandro Firmino da Hora--like most of the cast, a nonprofessional actor), self-appointed king of the dealers, determined to eliminate all competition at the expense of his corrupted soul. With enough visual vitality and provocative substance to spark heated debate (and box-office gold) in Brazil, codirectors Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund tackle their subject head on, creating a portrait of youthful anarchy so appalling--and so authentically immediate--that City of God prompted reforms in socioeconomic policy. It's a bracing feat of stylistic audacity, borrowing from a dozen other films to form its own unique identity. You'll flinch, but you can't look away. --Jeff Shannon

2) Description
Celebrated with worldwide acclaim, this powerful true story of crime and redemption has won numerous prestigious awards around the globe! The streets of the world's most notorious slum, Rio de Janeiro's "City of God," are a place where combat photographers fear to tread, police rarely go, and residents are lucky if they live to the age of 20. In the midst of the oppressive crime and violence, a frail and scared young boy will grow up to discover that he can view the harsh realities of his surroundings with a different eye: the eye of an artist. In the face of impossible odds, his brave ambition to become a professional photographer becomes a window into his world ... and ultimately his way out!

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) Personified Through The Lives Of Children., 2 Sep 2007   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Plot: In the 1960s, Cidade De Deus is already the most violent favela - neighbourhood - of Rio De Janeiro. Over the years, drugs and guns flood the area, making all-out gang war inevitable. Aspiring photographer Sandro must try to survive and stay clean if he is to escape. My Review: Guns, murder, rape, shootings and children? Obviously something not associated with most film drama; especially crime dramas. Here were are given an accomplished photographers graphic childhood - to - adulthood experiences, somehow engraved into your mind, account and involvement with Rio de Janeiro's most deadly of thugs and hoodlums. Usually regarded as a cheaper and more grittier, Goodfellas, South American style. Where everywhere in the world, there is a director's take on that countries gangster masterpiece, somehow trying to wield Scorsese tradition. Nonetheless, since the audience is on for a two-hour-plus Brazilian movie, which might not show without some strong encouragement. City Of God is the representation of Goodfellas in South America. Whilst viewing this, you think that you would expect to see a sassy and more exotic Goodfellas styled action crime drama rolled into one with enough blood, maybe some sex, and benefited with an excellent viewing satisfaction. Though when watching this you feel as if a complete nut-case has smacked you three ways across the face. The real astonishing thing is that where in most films, the adults are represented as power hungry, conservative, calm looking, vigilantly violent, and with a side order of repressed aggression; we are given children and teenagers. It feels like the child-staring 'Bugsy Malone' influence has rubbed off onto this Brazilian adaptation of Goodfellas. Based on Paulo Lins' eyewitness testimony of the bloody turf war, possibly exaggerated, which for years raged in Rio de Janeiro's most notorious slum, City Of God includes enough ineffaceable characters and extraordinary stories to fill several good films. Director Fernando Meirelles shepherds this wealth of material in a dizzying variety of ways, finding - even after two hours of gun battles - new ways to shoot and edit a sequence. Jumping from story to story, showing the needed to know details and not blatantly filling up screen time. The unusual thing to note is that he doesn't focus too much per story, and knows where to tie the knots before it feels dragged. In addition, with not the influence of the episodic flashback structure, or even because in gurning, gun-toting Zé Pequeno, City Of God does boast a jabbering psychotic that can be as every bit as compelling and unpredictable as Joe Pesci's Tommy. You are left to wonder whom is more the unpredictable and violently edged gangster. Even with the amazing editing, the film's real ace is the kids. Through an exhaustive series of childhood innocence to gang violence. The scene in which two young kids must decide whether they want to be shot in the hand or the foot contains some of the most powerful acting ever committed to celluloid. Overwhelmingly upsetting and this is the one scene that particularly sticks in frame of mind. Powerful stuff. Verdict: Released in 2002, it's still vastly popular amongst the viewing public. If you have the idea of an evening indoors watching gangster classics, this would certainly be one at the top of the pile. 9/10

2) BY FAR ONE OF THE BEST FILMS, FOREIGN OF NATIVE, EVER MADE!!!!   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
If you didnt know, like President Bush, that there are Black people in Brazil, then you must see this film. If that alone doesnt motivate you enough, then read the other reviews. If you still cant get a copy to view, then its your loss!!!Brothers and Sisters of African descent, see how your kinfolk are living in the Largest Formerly Portugese Colony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3) Oneofthe Best I've Seen   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
First of all, this movie is fantastic. Once one gets used to the subtitles, as with any foreign language movie, it is a fantastic and realistic movie. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone not afraid of violence, but who loves a fantastic story. The story is about life in the favelas, but it is really a success story about one man's rise out of the slums and into a successful life. If you are offended by violence and realism, go watch cartoons or something. I hear the smurfs might be having a new movie coming out.

4) Brilliant Gangster Picture   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Don't let the title, and the fact that this is a foreign language film, throw you off. This is not a religious picture, nor is it a "beautifully photographed triumph of the human spirit". This is a story about youth gangs in a Brazilian housing project, ironically named "The City of God." In reality it's a brutal slum, with grinding poverty. The film follows the story of several kids who grow up in this slum, most of them starting early on a life of crime.This is a film in the tradition of "Goodfellas" and "Menace II Society", with traces of "Once Upon a Time in America." Brilliantly scripted, acted, and edited, with believable, three-dimensional characters, this is a movie that will grip you from the first moments until the end.It should be noted that like any gangster picture there's plenty of violence, and its view of life is pretty grim. Don't rent or buy this movie if you think it's going to be a "charming foreign film."

5) Really enjoyed this movie   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Very well done. You could almost feel the humidity, and smell the poorness of this Rio slum. I really enjoyed this, even though it was very violent and you know most of these kids are going to die before they reach their 18th birthday, the one young man that does make it out, you'll root for with all your heart. Enjoy!