City of God 2002

type: Movie

language: Portuguese

duration: 128 min

genre: crime

theme: coming-of-age

director: Fernando Meirelles

Score: 9 / 10

City of God is a 2002 Brazilian epic crime film co-directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, released in Brazil in 2002 and worldwide in 2003. Bráulio Mantovani adapted the story from the 1997 novel of the same name written by Paulo Lins, but the plot is loosely based on real events. It depicts the growth of organized crime in the Cidade de Deus suburb of Rio de Janeiro, between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1980s, with the film's closure depicting the war between the drug dealer Li'l Zé and vigilante-turned-criminal Knockout Ned. The tagline is "If you run, the beast catches you; if you stay, the beast eats you."

Plot

The film begins in medias res with an armed gang chasing after an escaped chicken in a favela called the Cidade de Deus ("City of God"). The chicken stops between the gang and the narrator, a young man nicknamed Rocket ("Buscapé").

Cast

More details

author	Bráulio Mantovani
contentLocation	Cidade de Deus Rio de Janeiro
director	Fernando Meirelles Kátia Lund
editor	Daniel Rezende
events	drug-related crime favela Goal pursuit violence
genre	crime drama
keywords	arrest church comando vermelho date dead body drug dealer drug trade fight force front page gang war hear hippie housing project impoverish in medias res kill older brother on the beach open outnumber photography publish red brigade security guard shoot traffic trying to escape turn walk young boy young man
musicBy	Antonio Pinto Ed Côrtes
nomination	Academy Award for Best Cinematography Academy Award for Best Director Academy Award for Best Film Editing Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay European Film Award for Best Non-European Film
producer	Andrea Barata Ribeiro Mauricio Andrade Ramos
productionCompany	Globo Filmes Hank Levine Film O2 Filmes VideoFilmes
publisher	Globo Filmes Lumière Miramax Variety
recordedAt	Rio de Janeiro
theme	coming-of-age gangster hood narrative teen drama