City of God

Located in what can only be called a ‘ghetto’ in the deepest part of Brazils capital- Rio de Janeiro, sets the scene of Rocket. A young Brazilian growing up around ‘hoodlums’. His only dream- to become a photographer. From beginning to end, the viewer is captured in what can only be explained as a movie for South America as Tsotsi is to South Africa. A movie showing how the youths can so easily be caught up in the tragedies of a life less than ordinary. A life where around every corner you’re watching to see if someone might want to kill you, a life where drugs are the name of the game and the loser simply dies. No questions asked. You screw around with the wrong people and you find yourself six feet under.

The directors intentions from my point of view was to clearly show the movie as a documentary style in order to show the life story of our main character- Rocket. The way in which it is told seems like it is based on a true story therefore we can relate more to Rocket as we are seeing it through his eyes. I felt a clear relationship with Rocket, as these types of things are happening right here in South Africa. I personally have not been close to or part of anything of this magnitude, but there are people out there that are being affected in one way or another by these types of issues. Its hard to think that it could be happening in your own backyard but the truth is that it is. Tsotsi is a clear example of how these things can affect people close to us.

The way in which the movie is filmed shows a very warm feeling also complimenting the idea that it is filmed in Brazil. The yellow effect to the movie makes the viewer feel completely different emotions. It is a good technique to use in order to make viewers feel different sorts of feelings. The yellow in the movie puts the viewer in that location therefore making us feel warm and therefore putting us into context.

The idea of Rocket becoming a photographer was a brilliant move on the part of the director as who better to tell a story than a photographer. A picture tells the story of a thousand words. This is exactly what rocket did at the end, taking photographs of the deaths of important and influential members of the ‘City of God’.