TRAILER: Cinema Release: Adrift

Film: Adrift

REVIEW: DVD Release: City Of Men

Film: City Of Men
Release date: 23rd February 2009
Certificate: 15
Running time: 102 mins
Director: Paulo Morelli
Starring: Darlan Cunha, Douglas Silva, Rodrigo Dos Santos, Camila Monteiro, Jonathan Haagensen
Genre: Crime/Drama
Studio: Miramax
Format: DVD
Country: Brazil

Three friendships, three betrayals, three tales to tell… Paulo Morelli delivers his take on the lives of the residents of Dead End Hill, where veiled truths are uncovered causing friends to become foes, lives to be lost and boys to become men. Amid a plot overflowing with passion and the prominence of personal growth, pardon and partnership; City Of Men conveys juxtapositions of the grim and the grand outcomes for treachery or disobedience of the unwritten rules of Rio de Janeiro.

Reminiscent of City Of God, City Of Men illustrates life in the favelas/slums of Rio de Janeiro, yet this time the plot is assembled around not just the strive for endurance and victory, but for a break in tradition.

We join best friends, Laranjinha and Acerola, two teenagers who, on the brink of turning eighteen, have never had any paternal influence and discuss how this has affected them. It appears from the beginning that Laranjinha is more affected by his absent father than his comrade Acerola, who at the tender age of 17 entered paternity himself, and so Acerola sets out to track down his best bud’s father in time for the details to be on his ID when he reaches 18.

However, when Acerola does locate Laranjinha’s father, Heraldo, they soon ascertain that not only is he an ex-con but he has no more interest in being a father to Laranjinha now than he did eighteen years ago, instantly dismissing any chance at a newly formed association with his son. Despite this, a persistent Acerola is spurred on by his own knowledge and experiences of life without a father figure, and eventually persuades Heraldo to give his son a chance in his life…


Laranjinha and his father bond greatly and there appears to be genuine hope for the two at becoming the father and son they should always have been. That is until Heraldo refuses to let the newly homeless Acerola stay the night whilst giving his son the choice of staying with him or retreating to the streets with his pal, and a confused and besotted Laranjinha chooses to stay at home with his father, risking everything with his should-be paramount companion.

Alongside the camaraderie of the two young men, we are also introduced to that of Madrugadao and his subordinate Nefasto - an alliance which almost instantaneously is under pressure and in effect turns sour; provoking a fresh warfare - the fight for tenure of aptly named Dead End Hill.

The young men’s relationship fluctuates from sturdy to fragile as the facts about each others’ fathers is exposed, and they get separated and become enemies in their home town war. Yet the central issue to the plot is this: can such a liaison withstand the tests of time and be rectified after hidden realities have been uncovered changing everything they once knew and believed in?

Highly involved with the father’s role, Paulo Morelli stresses the effects of absent fathers, both good and bad, but most importantly strives to portray the message that a father is not so much vital, but definitely imperative. We see this exemplified beautifully during the end scene with Acerola and his son Clayton, as he sets an example in everyday tasks like crossing the road safely.

Featuring similar cinematography to City Of God, with high angle sweeping shots and impacting customary Brazilian music accompanying the action, City Of Men hits home the sincerity of the events on screen, urging one to feel a part of the highs and the lows of the character’s experience. The beach scenes in particular are impressive; wherein the sun kissed skin of the locals is breathtaking, creating a want amongst the viewers’ thoughts to be there enjoying the dancing rays.

This leads to the main and well deserved praise, which must go towards the actors, some of whom also starred in City Of God and were simply residents of Rio de Janeiro prior to the two films. The natural wit, grace and ability to convince airing from each and every character is hugely evident, a product for satisfying viewing and scrutiny, where emotions are, at times, elevated, and at others dragged down, reaching a dramatic climax where a gratifying sense of catharsis is achieved.

The only negative: it is hard not to compare the film to the classic City Of God, and in doing so you find faults which otherwise wouldn’t have registered. Firstly, the introductory scene of City Of God has the ability to astound and intrigue instantaneously whereas City Of Men, notwithstanding a good opening scene, and one that attracts also, is one which doesn’t blow the viewer’s mind to the same influencing extent. Throughout City Of Men and City Of God, we get to grips with the personalities of each character wanting them to thrive, we feel a part of their lives through the great shooting and connection-provoking storylines, but there is an all more powerful a correlation felt to the characters in City Of God - perhaps due to the audience proceeding through their voyage from boys to ‘men’? In addition, the impact the film has as a whole on the viewer stands to prove that City Of God is a remarkably hard hitting film.

The appropriate comedy facet alongside convincing and quick witted one-liners (“Hot my ass, a gangster never feels the heat”) helps push the boundaries for Morelli here, although again not as effective as in City Of God, but still it alleviates the deadly mood and relaxes the viewer before the next blow. This is much needed, with action packed gun possession and ultimate murder on Dead End Hill where nothing is off limits when possession is at stake.


With the accent upon survival of the fittest, and the urge to “retrieve what is rightfully yours,” salvage is a key motive for the characters and factor for the entire stratagem within City Of Men. In a rousing story screened with raw sensation using a fatherless, foolish and foreboding cast, we get to view a beautiful work of art, which is actually fast, fresh, fearless and forward thinking. VMF

REVIEW: DVD Release: City Of God

Film: City Of God
Release date: 7th July 2004
Certificate: 18
Running time: 102 mins
Director: Kátia Lund & Fernando Meirelles

Starring: Phellipe Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Seu Jorge

Genre: Crime/Drama
Studio: Miramax
Format: DVD
Country: Brazil/France

Director Fernando Meirelles, breaks the mould with his commended and extravagantly nominated City Of God where accomplishing one’s desires are not as basic as they are in his 2001 film Domésticas, for example. Derived from the flourished novel of the same name by Paulo Lins, City Of God bids you to Rio de Janeiro to ascertain why “Hoods don’t love, they desire. Hoods don’t talk, they smooth talk. Hoods don’t stop, they take a break.”

This tale of the City of God, based upon true events, is initiated by way of narration from the leading role, budding photographer, Rocket. Through Rocket’s recounting experiences as a youth growing up in Rio de Janeiro, we learn of his journey, and those of his fellow friends and foes.

The City of God is depicted not just through the nostalgic Rocket, but also via melancholic, yet somehow idyllic landscape shots. The city, Rocket explains, was a place where people came “to find paradise,” and this is simply the beginning of the recurring notion within the film that the people of Rio de Janeiro struggle most of their lives reaching for fulfillment of their desires.

Rocket tells the stories of various young men he grew up alongside, although he mainly focuses upon the accounts of two central and vital characters - Benny and Lil’ Ze. In doing so, he exemplifies the true face of Rio de Janeiro’s City of God; one wherein the locals were, as reported by Rocket, “too far removed from the picture postcard image of Rio de Janeiro.”

As the anecdote begins, the City of God appears to be a place filled with soul, energy and love, and what follows on screen for most of the 130 minute running time is most definitely a mixture of these elements. However, as the plot begins to unfold, these fundamentals are overwritten by the sheer darkness, violence and sorrow experienced, yet also sadly contributed to by its inhabitants...


With such an intensely fuelled action-packed opening scene, it’s no wonder Fernando Meirelles has done so healthily with his 2002 film. It is impossible not to be hypnotized by Meirelles’ clever use of speedy sweeping and prompt freeze shots, alongside the magically energetic traditional Brazilian music flowing throughout the introductory scene. It is here we are subjected to a somewhat amusing, if nevertheless imperative frantic chicken chase, wherein the elegantly swift camera work creates a scene which one can almost feel a part of. We watch as an alarmed and anxious chicken observes his poultry pals being slaughtered without any hope of survival. However, it appears that the chicken believes there is a better option and makes a break for it, but not before the residents of the City of God spy the run-away bird and pursue it. There seems to be a preliminary metaphor here for the hopeful citizens of the City of God tying in greatly with the film’s tagline: “If you run, they’ll catch you... If you stay, they’ll eat you.” Perhaps the message Meirelles is aiming to render is that in the City of God, there is no way out of the city’s constraints - no happy ending. This is further portrayed through the tragedies that occur around individuals where they learn the hard way that attempting to flee the city can have dire consequences.

Rocket tries his best to stay out of any trouble that occurs within the City of God, despite many of his peers being involved from ages as young as 12, and his brother being a member of the Tender Trio (Goose, Shaggy and Clipper) - an infamous gang back in the 1960s but who are described as “amateurs” compared to the next generation of hoods who flourish as a result of the Trio’s influence - Lil’ Ze (formerly the child gangster Lil’ Dice) and Benny, his childhood buddy, are the two most prominent.

In the 1970s, the two boys enter adolescence and, along with it, become eminent for their transgression packed lives, featuring little more than guns, drugs, music and violence. However, Lil’ Ze and Benny couldn’t be more distant in their approach to handling situations and everyday life - Lil’ Ze, quick to jump at a chance for bloodshed and danger, is usually calmed down by his comrade Benny, who opts for rationality, peace and love.

The film depicts other characters who play critical roles, such as drug-lord Carrot and, eventually, even the cautious and civil Knockout Ned is caught up in the havoc wreaked upon the City of God, where the quest for survival can sometimes become superior to the quest for the accomplishment of aspirations - proven as the young characters learn the hard way how either option can result in death: “The slum had been purgatory, now it was hell.”

Meirelles unites a couple of romantic scenes, together with a little comedic air, alongside heart wrenchingly poignant moments, blends them up with the brutality, felony and shock capacity to produce a work of art that has it all - a picture that will have you wondering which emotion you shall experience next! Fernando Meirelles has outdone himself in this masterpiece of Portuguese cinema. Still, a lot of his acclaim should not only rest on his vast skills as a director but on the perfect cast he chose, and their dazzling ability to move their audience to such a large degree.


In what seems the product of inspiration from directors Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese, Fernando Meirelles delivers an outstanding and gripping film. Differing from his previous material, the Brazilian director encapsulates the City of God and its habitants’ mesmerising rawness in a way one rarely views within cinema. VMF