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Volume CXXXIII, Number 10 |
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Brazilian film rocks
DAVIN MICHAELS
COLUMNIST
This weekend, the Bowdoin Film Society presents City of God (Cidade de deus), which has been praised as one of the greatest foreign films of 2002. This Brazilian film, in Portuguese with English subtitles, was only prominently featured in big cities during its theatrical run in America. It ran all throughout last summer in New York City, attracting lots of attention among critics and film students.
City of God is about a housing project built in the 1960s that, in the early 80s, became one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro. The tale is involves many characters whose lives sometimes intersect, seen through the eyes of a single narrator, Rocket (Alexendre Rodriguez), a poor black youth who is too frail and scared to become an outlaw, but also too smart to be content with underpaid, menial jobs.
Rocket grows up in a very violent environment. His redemption is that he's been given an artist's point of view as a photographer, through which he chronicles the turn of his town from a slum into a war zone, as one of his friends turns to a life of crime and drug dealing. It is through Rocket's perspective of life that one can understand the complicated layers and humanity of a world apparently condemned to endless violence.
City of God was directed by K tia Lund and Fernando Meirelles. This movie handles storytelling in a very interesting and original manner, emphasizing the difference between what is seen and what is said. It also deals with issues of a world embedded in a culture of violence and how life filters through communities of gangs as a means of self-identification. It is very beautifully done with intriguing characters and a compelling plot, mixing elements of drama, thriller, and crime. The film is also based on a true story.
This is the most recent film that the Film Society is showing this semester, and it is an opportunity that should not be missed. The film was a critics' pick at the Cannes Film Festival and has continued to grab everyone's attention. It made its way on to several dozen critics' top films of 2002.
City of God is free and open to all members of the Bowdoin community. Please come and see it either Friday or Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. in Smith Auditorium.
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