City of God

It's hard to describe City of God - and hard to forget it. Some movies are pure entertainment, some are arty, and then there's movies like this, which are challenging on a number of different levels. 'City of God' is based on a true story - and is set in one of the world's most notorious slums in Rio de Janeiro. The slum is called 'City of God' and the movie centers on the children who live there, including the main character, based on Paulo Lins, who found a way to better things through his photography.

I think the reason 'City of God' is so impacting is that it involves children - children with guns, children who take drugs, children who kill seemingly without conscience. Some of these children are very young - under ten. It's not an easy movie to watch as there is a lot of violence, and the pace is fast, reflecting young lives that burn out quickly. Most don't live to be twenty years old.

Different things affect me in movies, and there's some I won't watch. Bad language doesn't bother me, if it's not gratuitous. In fact I tend not to notice it. Maybe that's because I heard so much of it in my pre-Christian days (and still do sometimes) and used it myself in the past. So I just see people talking the way some people talk. I'm not into heavily violent movies, and in those that have some violence it's usually far-fetched to me. Perhaps because I live in a country that doesn't have a gun culture (even our police don't carry guns), so the shootings and so on generally seem like a fantasy type thing rather than reflecting reality. But there are exceptions...

'City of God' is the sort of movie that I expect people might say is over the top if it weren't true. But it is not only based on the actuality for these kids, it's been watered down. I recently read Projections 13, a book that is one in a series on film and film-making. Projections 13 focuses on women in the film industry, and has an interview with Katia Lund, who was Co-Director on 'City of God'. Here's part of the interview:

Isabella Weibrecht: I've been thinking about the scene in which Ze Pequeno shoots the little boy in the foot. I found this almost pornographic, given the fact that these kids live through this type of thing on a daily basis.

Katia Lund: That was actually the hardest scene to shoot... The scene goes on even further. The author, Paulo Lins, really wanted the whole thing in the film because he witnessed it with his own eyes. Ze Pequeno lets the boy go, with his foot shot, and he hobbles away, turns a corner and gets shot in the forehead. As Paulo Lins says, the film is lighter than the book, which is lighter than reality.
(My note: He is shot in the foot in the film, not killed).

And that is partly why this movie is so challenging, because while I would normally call that scene gratuitous in a purely fictional script, in this instance it's heart wrenching because it happened. And I've been thinking about that. 'City of God' gave me a glimpse into something God sees everyday. He sees it undiluted. It also got me thinking about exploitation. Isn't it usual that a movie production rolls into some obscure location, shoots the movie and then leaves with nothing changing? Something I found interesting was that Katia Lund had previously worked on the tv pilot 'Golden Gate', using local Brazilian children from the slums as actors. 40 million Brazilians watched 'Golden Gate' and it brought their very real social issue into their living rooms.

'City of God' used local children as actors too. And after filming was completed Katia Lund continued with the school that had been set up to train the young actors. In her interview in Projections 13 she said:

"Fernando agreed to continue financing the school for another three months after we finished shooting the film. We hired teachers and tutors for the kids and we met every Saturday to give them a sense of belonging, of a community. But that was four months before the film was released in Brazil. I continued financing it for a while and am still trying to get funding elsewhere."

The film has an R rating, so I'm not giving a blanket recommendation to see it. I know some people will have a different criteria than mine. But it has me thinking too. So much of the popular visual Christian media is tailored to our Western comfort zone. To be frank, some of it seems to be about "bless me and don't portray the harder aspects of others lives". Which has me wondering what God would film. What would he bring to our attention?

Photo: Miramax