City of God (Fernando Meirelles,

2002)

Urban • The favelas act as a place for the gangs to plan and start a war• Favelas act as a place for the gangs to be ‘safe’ and ‘wanted’

in terms of being with others.• The ‘City of God’ is an urban city, as a lot of crime and

corruption such as the wars against the gangs and the regular looting and shooting crimes.

• Many look beyond the favela to find a better life e.g. Rocket wants to get away from drugs and crime, Angelica and Benny want to start a farm.

• The favela is about gaining control and power.

Power• The film is about gaining power in the favela and doing well in

the business of drugs.• Lil Zee/Dice is obsessed with power, anyone that faces him

either die or end up working for him.• Violence breeds more violence.• Lil Zee/Dice is behind the motel heist, he is also shown to be a

psychopath.• Goose takes Lil Dice’s money, Lil Dice ends up killing Goose “Oh

Goose I’ve got something for you”.• Power is the single thing that corrupts society.• The police have less power than Lil Zee as they are corrupt.• The drug gang lack little responsibility, their main priority is

selling drugs and not getting caught. Drugs act as a way on maintaining power

Poverty• The conditions of the poor are presented as unable to be altered except by an individual getting out of

the slums and leaving everyone else there.• There are few choices, slim chances and narrow and vicious minds present in the film, this contributes

to the poverty.• Not just guns and little resources they have contribute to poverty, but the fact that there is little social

behaviour. • The conditions of life are shown to be disturbing and corrupt. • Everybody has a need to belong somewhere.• Poverty is shown in a negative way through the narrative and technical features of the film.• The film employs three different shades for each decade, the 60s has a gold tint, the 70s there is a blue

tint, in order the show the sinister side of the city, as well as to reflect the poor living conditions in the favelas

• The narrative shows the issue of poverty due to where the characters live and how they behave. It shows the both the roots and the effects of poverty as the story begins in the 1960s before the events in the 70s and 80s. The earlier events are shot with bright colours with a very open environment which can suggest freedom, whereas 2 decades later, the city descents into poverty which is visualised in much darker tones and colours as the characters become more violent and turn to crime and drugs.

• Due to the amount of poverty, many have resorted in crime to get by in life.

Conflict• Conflict invades every minute of the film.• Characters and random people die everywhere.• The whole film in a way is about one massive war that has

begun since the 1970s.• The moment when the children make Lil Zee angry, he shoots

some of the in the feet.• The conflict between the police and the gangs.• The conflict between honesty and dishonesty. • The conflict between the values of the women – who want

their men to settle down and lead a ‘normal’ life.