Cidade de Deus (City of God) (2002)
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Reviews Counted: 156
Fresh: 141 | Rotten: 15
A shocking and disturbing, but always compelling look at life in the slums of Rio de Janiero.
Average Rating: 8.2/10
Critic Reviews: 37
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 4
A shocking and disturbing, but always compelling look at life in the slums of Rio de Janiero.
liked it
Average Rating: 4.3/5
User Ratings: 216,066
Movie Info
Fernando Meirelles' City of God is a sweeping tale of how crime affects the poor population of Rio de Janeiro. Though the narrative skips around in time, the main focus is on Cabeleira who formed a gang called the Tender Trio. He and his best friend, Bené (Phelipe Haagensen), become crime lords over the course of a decade. When Bené is killed before he can retire, Lil' Zé attempts to take out his arch enemy, Sandro Cenoura (Matheus Nachtergaele). But Sandro and a young gangster named Mane form
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Cast
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Alexandre Rodrigues
Buscapé (Rocket), Busc... -
Leandro Firmino da Hora
ZĂ© Pequeno (Lil' ZĂ©),... -
Matheus Nachtergaele
Sandro Cenoura (Carrot) -
Phelipe Haagensen
BenĂ© (Benny), Bené (Be... -
Seu Jorge
Mane Galinha (Knockout ... -
Jonathan Haagensen
Cabeleira (Shaggy) -
Daniel Zettel
Thiago -
Alice Braga
AngĂ©lica, Angélica, An... -
Douglas Silva
Dadinho (Lil' Dice) -
Roberta Rodriguez Silvia
Berenice -
Michel de Souza Gomes
Bené Criança (Young B... -
Darlan Cunha
FilĂ©-com-Fritas, Filé-... -
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All Critics (157) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (141) | Rotten (15) | DVD (32)
I came away from this film impressed by its narrative control but unmoved by anything it had to say.
Top CriticCity of God delivers a bruising, visceral experience of the vicious spiral of violence that draws kids into a life of crime, brutality and murder as the only avenue open to them.
The performances, many from non-pros, are terrific.
Difficult to watch but hard to look away from.
The living conditions it projects are as horrendous as I had feared, but the movie is surprisingly easy to take as a rollicking homicidal entertainment.
Hard to watch but even harder to tear your eyes away from.
Another passionate piece of Latin American filmmaking, which documents a tragic period in Rio's history and highlights the horrors of life in poverty-line communities. Technically a remarkable filmmaking achievement too.
Powerful, but only for 17 and up.
Each chapter is endowed with powerful, uncompromising, beguiling and, sometimes, deceptive momentum. What seem like innocuous turns become so critical to the narrative that they tie into the ruthless idea at hand: You never see the bullet that kills you.
Brazillian director Mereilles' splashy feature debut, a dynamically exciting portrait of Rio's violent gangs, immediately established himsef as an international talent to watch, and the Oscar nods only reaffirmed that status.
Fernando Meirelles' Brazilian slum epic is a profound, stylistically expansive depiction of three decades of child gang warfare on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro with non-actors playing their poverty-ridden lives for the camera.
The visceral and artistic excitement remains surface-bound.
Director Fernando Meirelles creates an aura of fear unlike any film in recent memory.
Kinetic, exciting, brutal, it's a supreme achievement and better than almost any film you're likely to see this year.
City of God is not the easiest film to watch, but it is a masterpiece all the same, maybe the best crime drama since the Godfather films.
A staggering masterpiece.
A Brazilian "Scarface"
At a full-throttle pace and exciting from beginning to end, directors Lund and Meirrelles grab hold of your attention and don't let go.
Directors Kátia Lund and Fernando Meirelles stir all the cinematic virtues into this finely-crafted narrative.
It's a grim epitaph for hypocrisy, and the film provides no comfortable answers for solving any of the problems it so well describes.
We've seen this story before, more or less -- the blood, the budding psychopaths, the all-too-young victims of urban decay -- but never quite like this.
As we see kids of no more than ten or twelve run through the streets with guns shooting those who don't give them what they want, we can't help but pity them.
Audience Reviews for Cidade de Deus (City of God)
Super Reviewer
Great Film!!! Not only are the characters in City of God absolutely fascinating, and also very endearing, but also convincingly acted by groups of young and unknown actors. The stories are well-told, and at times, funny, and at others, brutally shocking. The cinematic style of the film gives a nod to Tarantino, with some clever time-jumping, freeze-framing, and texts indicating another chapter of the film. In every sense, a bit of a Brazillian "Pulp Fiction" or "Goodfellas", but with its own unique flavour to it. The City of God is a marvel, and a highly recommended film to watch, but not recommended for the over-sensitive or easily distressed.
Brazil, 1960's, City of God. The Tender Trio robs motels and gas trucks. Younger kids watch and learn well...too well. 1970's: Li'l Zé has prospered very well and owns the city. He causes violence and fear as he wipes out rival gangs without mercy. His best friend Bené is the only one to keep him on the good side of sanity. Rocket has watched these two gain power for years, and he wants no part of it. Yet he keeps getting swept up in the madness. All he wants to do is take pictures. 1980's: Things are out of control between the last two remaining gangs...will it ever end? Welcome to the City of God.
Super Reviewer
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- Buscapé (Rocket): What should have been swift revenge turned into an all out war. The City of God was divided. You couldn't go from one section the other, not even to visit a relative. The cops considered anyone living in the slum a hoodlum. People got used to living in Vietnam, and more and more volunteers signed up to die.
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- Buscapé (Rocket): The sun is for everyone, the beach is for those who deserve it.
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- Buscapé (Rocket): It was like a message from God: "Honesty doesn't pay, sucker."
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- Zé Pequeno (Lil' Zé): Where do you want to take the shot? In the hand or in the foot?
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Movie: ID: 12927 Title: Cidade de Deus (City of God) Release Date: 2003-01-17 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- City of God (DE)
- City Of God (UK)
