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From Amazon.co.uk
Action-packed and fueled by Brazilian funk, City of Men returns the makers of City of God to the scene of their first success. In this case, the search for family supersedes the search for identity--not that there isn't a correlation between the two. Though produced by Fernando Meirelles, Paulo Morelli's feature isn't a sequel, but a follow-up to the four-season series of the same name. While Meirelles's movie takes place in Rio de Janeiro's past, Morelli's transpires in the present (not counting flashbacks from the show). Days away from turning 18, boyhood friends Acerola (Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha, a.k.a. Wallace (Darlan Cunha), grew up without fathers. Ace has a wife and child; Wallace has a steady girl. The duo gets along with the gang that rules their labyrinthine hillside neighborhood or favela, but hoodlum life holds little appeal. Ace struggles to raise his young son--his security guard father was murdered during a robbery--while Wallace tries to track down the dad he never knew. With Ace's assistance, Wallace solves the mystery of his genealogy, but at great cost to their friendship (and lives). Despite the South American pedigree, City of Men suggests the South Central of Boyz N the Hood more than City of God. It's not that Morelli's kinetic film looks like John Singleton's more classically composed enterprise, but that it deals with similar inner-city concerns. That said, Silva and Cunha are every bit as charismatic as Ice Cube and Cuba Gooding Jr.--if not more so. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Product Description
Gritty coming-of-age drama set in the lawless slums of Rio de Janeiro. Sharing its heritage with the award-winning 'Children of God' (2002), the story follows the fortunes of two eighteen-year-olds as they struggle to find a life for themselves amidst the drug-funded warfare of Rio's slums. Although not related, Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha) and Acerola (Douglas Silva) have grown up together as brothers, but now as they enter adulthood, their friendship will be tested to the limits as they both fight the grim survival statistics. Both have separate priorities; Laranjinha needs to re-establish contact with his unknown father, nearing parole after killing a man; while Acerola is under pressure to support his young family. As the pair try to deal with their new responsibilities, the ever-present threat of an all-out gang war threatens to erupt, testing the childhood friends' resolve to the limit.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A docu story about men and multiple binds of entrapment in poverty stricken life roles, forever being caught within dreams of ascending the top of a dung heap and then looking downwards. Within the urban sprawl of Rio, a one-way ticket out of poverty is peddling dope. To ensure optimum selling, having a few guns given to the soldiers and then shooting the rivals is a key requisite.
The film focuses on men, in particular the emotional impact of absent fathers and the adolescent dreams of trying to cement Humpty back into family life. Trouble is Humpty shattered into a thousand pieces and to stick him back takes more than glue. The central theme is about redemption and friendship overcoming all the nihilism. The problems the film highlights are the deadly impacts of poverty, as the life span of a gangster is very short. In some cases they do not get beyond 15. Meanwhile those at the top of the pile are forever trapped in mind paranoia, where betrayal by a best friend is forever hovering.
A stunning film about inter gang conflict, shot in multiple time frames highlighting the strength and fragility of human relationships, minute decisions, their importance and how men who have just shed being boys, become embedded within a culture of violence as an expected norm, then it details how they all escape their collective pasts. The world turns into a rattle of bullets.
The dialogue is swift, the acting brutally real, the action all too human whilst twisted into knots that become gut wrenching.
Another stunning film about the poverty of human life to be filed with La Haine.
The film focuses on men, in particular the emotional impact of absent fathers and the adolescent dreams of trying to cement Humpty back into family life. Trouble is Humpty shattered into a thousand pieces and to stick him back takes more than glue. The central theme is about redemption and friendship overcoming all the nihilism. The problems the film highlights are the deadly impacts of poverty, as the life span of a gangster is very short. In some cases they do not get beyond 15. Meanwhile those at the top of the pile are forever trapped in mind paranoia, where betrayal by a best friend is forever hovering.
A stunning film about inter gang conflict, shot in multiple time frames highlighting the strength and fragility of human relationships, minute decisions, their importance and how men who have just shed being boys, become embedded within a culture of violence as an expected norm, then it details how they all escape their collective pasts. The world turns into a rattle of bullets.
The dialogue is swift, the acting brutally real, the action all too human whilst twisted into knots that become gut wrenching.
Another stunning film about the poverty of human life to be filed with La Haine.
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This was a great movie, I really enjoyed it, It was a good purchase and not too expensive, I was pleased
By Stefan
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
There were no Spanish subtitles available as per the info from the merchant, had I known this I wouldn't have ordered the DVD.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
GOOD BUT NOT THE BEST OF BRAZIL
There's absolutely nothing wrong with this film in what it seeks to portray, and would rate it even higher if I had not seen Ciudad de Dios and the incredible Central Station. Read more
Published 7 months ago by H. L. Mason
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bleak reality but stunning film
A captivating and superb film, amazingly acted and beautifully shot. The ongoing bleakness of the cycle of drug problems and gangs is never far away but this adds to the empathy I... Read more
Published 8 months ago by scott
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stark reality
A stark reality, well filmed, incredible inexperienced street kids as actors, Rio's dark side. Glad I hunted around for it.
Published 21 months ago by Edward Rex
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not quite City of God
This is a good film but you are always going to compare it to City of God and it ain't up to that standard. Yet if you watch the film in its own right then it is a good a movie. Read more
Published on 2 April 2009 by A. Croake
4.0 out of 5 stars
City of despair
Set in the favelas overlooking downtown Rio, this hardy tale of two friends going through a rite of passage is admirable in allowing us a glimpse of the harsh realities of life in... Read more
Published on 7 Feb 2009 by Jones the Film
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