Customer Reviews

City of God

5 star:		(79)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hello, the blu-ray edition don't have SPANISH subtitles, like you can read at the back cover.

The video quality is regular, you can choose English or French subtitles but can't see the movie without subtitles.

The DTS-MA audio track ir very good.

This movie is excelent, but this blu-ray edition is not.

Regars, Juan

"City of God" ("Cidade de Deus") is the story of a boy, but also the story of a "favela" (Portuguese word with similar meaning to slum or shantytown) on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. That shantytown is called "Cidade de Deus". Throughout this extraordinary movie both the boy and the favela grow, albeit obviously in very different ways :)

The boy is Rocket (Buscap' in Portuguese, played by Alexandre Rodrigues), who is born in Cidade de Deus and grows up before our eyes living in it. He is quiet and easygoing, just a non-violent person seeking a way to survive in a brutal environment. Rocket ends up doing exactly that through his passion, photography, that ends up making him an intermediary between the local gangs and the press. He is also the narrator of this movie, the voice that accompanies us throughout many of the stories that "City of God" has to offer...

The other main character of "City of God" is the "city" itself, that starts merely as a couple of houses, but that grows immensely as years go by. The activities in which its inhabitants are involved also change, from petty robbery to organized crime that involves drug dealing and arms trafficking. We see Li'l Z' (Z' Pequeno in Portuguese, played by Leandro Frimino), one of the boys that used to play soccer with Rocket, grow up to become a murderer and a drug lord, someone that makes his own laws. The same happened with others, but Li'l Z' probably represents to most dangerous kind of sociopath that the favela can produce. Rocket and Li'l Z', same circumstances, different persons, different choices. Who says that where you lives determinates how you are and what you do?. This is an excellent example that that is not always the case...

Directors Fernando Meirelles and K'tia Lund somehow managed to convey in their movie the full strenght of the novel (written by Paulo Lins) on which "City of God" is based. This film is full of colour and energy, carrying the spectator at a dizzying pace through the twenty years it covers, never giving him time to get bored. It is wortwhile to point out that most of the "actors" didn't have any real experience as such, they just happened to live in different slums of Rio de Janeiro (including Cidade de Deus) at the time when the film was being made. I think that is something that shows in the realism of the results...

On the whole, I can say that I loved "City of God", notwithstanding the fact that it is undeniably bloody and has some very violent scenes. In my opinion, they are not gratuitous, because they help the directors to capture what may really happen in a Brazilian shantytown, and show it to us. All in all, this movie is nothing short of an experience worth having and sharing. If you watch "City of God" and love it as much as I do, do your part and recommend it to others :)

Belen Alcat

"City of God" is a masterpiece, quiete simply. I don't know the names of the actors, but they all distribute amazing performances. Lil Zee is probably one of the most terrifying villains in movie history, because you see how he begins his sadistic lifestyle and how it brutally ends. Rocket is a very important role too, because he tells the story. Don't be fooled, "City of God" isn't a gangster flick of an action movie. It's a dramatic portrayal of life in the slums from a different direction. Rocket deals with love, pain, betrayal, denial, and talent(he's a skilled photographer).

The scenes are haunting, but also beautiful in a way. The scenes are realistic. I won't give you the plot because you probably know what it's about if you're looking it up. Even though Lil Zee and Rocket are the two main characters, the supporting characters are very important. Carrot, one of the other druglords, and Benny, Lil Zee's best friend are both really well played performances

Though filled with dizzying violence and brutality (things I usually frown upon in films) City of God is one of the best films I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. The violence and brutality is necessary in this film in order for the story to be told the way it was intended to. This film is a true depiction of an impoverished community where there are very few legitimate ways out and also very little value placed on human life. In the tradition of films like Francesco Rosi's "Salvatore Giuliano", City of God takes a true story and tells it with realistic acting and visionary film-making. After watching City Of God modern day film makers should really question their work and decide if they're really putting their talents to use for the better of humankind. It's about time film makers stopped entertaining and started to educate the viewer on injustices in this world. Hold off 300 million dollar productions of fantasy films and show the world some things that really need to be changed.

City Of God is not just a film, it's stunning portrayal of corruption, greed, and how desperation in poverty can lead to senseless violence. It achieves something way more powerful than just being labeled as "a work of art." What could that be you ask? Watch for yourself and see.

I won't comment about the movie itself, but rather the film transfer & blu-ray presentation by Alliance....The AVC encode sports solid colors & grain structure that are in keeping with the theatrical experience. The bitrate peaks at about 33mbps, with the average falling within the 25mbps range. Also, a much appreciated menu with scene selection is included in this release. The aspect ratio on this blu-ray is 1.78:1, while the theatrical release sported a ratio of 1.85:1. Subtitles appear to be from the original theatrical release, and the included documentary has been ported over in SD from the North American dvd. As for audio, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master track makes good use of the film's score and sound effects, while appearing to be an ample improvement over the more common dvd.

In all, it would be extremely difficult for a US release to top the quality contained on this disc. Having seen the film 4 times during its theatrical run I can tell that this blu-ray from Alliance is one of their most faithful to date.

Highly Recommmended!

Seriously. Check out the reviews here on Amazon, IMDB (top 20), or wherever they sell this film. That's a masterpiece. And what they show in the movie is real. I showed the movie to a Canadian friend, he did not believe in all those kids with guns. But it happens in Brazil. I know several cases of kids with guns doing murdering and robbery. I used to play tennis in a public court in Recife, where a guy was shot by a kid who tried to grab his stuff. The guy run after the kid, and the guy was shot! If I were that guy, I would do the same. Luckily, I'm still alive. That's sad, but that's the reality! But if you're visiting Brazil, don't worry, that's a nice place, seriously. Just avoid close contact with our kids on the street (ok... that's a joke!)

CITY OF GOD does pay off in the end but I think that the bonus documentary has more relevant meaning to it. But the movie is a TOUR DE FORCE of CINEMA no doubt about that. It is very much a GOODFELLAS/CASINO of the flavellas.

The superb documentary contained on this disc in the special features section explains far more the political dimensions of the subject.

One thing that is not explained in either the movie or the documentary is the origins of the 1964 Coup that over-turned Brazilian democracy and saw a fascist junta come to power.
That event was the fruition of a plan and a policy conceived and insisted upon by John F Kennedy though the Hollywood JFK mythology machine does not want to "go there" or you to know it.
Kennedy was an ardent supporters of neo-nazis across the Third World from Indonesia to Iraq to Brazil. Though his plan for Brazil did not come to a full fruition until after his assassination the plan was very much Kennedy's and all the key people Rusk. McNamara etc were still in power.

In theory Brazil should be a 1st World rich country it has all the resources. They now have the first decent President in their history. But he has forty years of interferance from the North and a culture of brutality to over-come.

hsm_melody@hotmail.com

I thinks its one of the best films I've ever seen. I don't think you will ever see something as amazing as this film. It left me speechless. I don't think people realize that many of the actors in the film are from the slums of Brazil with no prior acting and that the budget of the movie is almost nothing compared to Hollywood. Keep that in mind when your watching this movie and you will realize that this is as good as it gets. AMAZING!

City of God is disturbing. It gave me chills seeing coked up juvenile kids putting bullets through other kids' heads, and a ghetto neighorhood which offers no hope whatsoever to any of its occupants. The cinematogrophy is lush, the story, told by a famous photogropher, "Rocket" Rodrigues, is layered and candid. The acting is frightengly excellent, and it contains many scenes which will remain sketched on your brain (unless you grew up there, maybe). An emotional rollercoaster ride, City of God succeeds in transporting the viewer to probably one of the worst areas that has ever existed on this planet, and making us not want to leave.
Bravo!

For those who think Rio isn't any worse than the likes of LA or any other US city,watch the DVD extra.Apart from that,Rio's murder rate in 1992 according to two reliable sources was 86 per 100,000 - a massive murder rate for a city of ten million(far more striking than Washington D.C. which was 80 per 100,000 in a city of 500,000).What that says is that Rio's worst parts dwarf D.C. or anywhere else in the states.There were some misleading claims in the film and DVD though, such as organized criminality(we are clearly dealing with common criminals here)and Rio being the most dangerous gangland on earth(possibly San Pedro Sula,Honduras and early 90's Bogota,Colombia - CERTAINLY Medellin - also Colombia,have worse areas). The thing that stood out from the film for me was the harrowing scene with the main gang cornering the two little kids - shocking and realistic.Rio is really like this and people need to see the staggering levels of common gang violence in Rio and throughout Latin America(more coverage of the problem in Colombia,Honduras and El Salvador would be welcome).To end I would like to pay tribute to the Brazilian people,they have to be some of the nicest people in the world yet put up with seriously dangerous situations.I have nothing but respect for their bravery.