Film Summary
A shocking and disturbing and utterly compelling look at life in the slums of Rio de Janiero, CITY OF GOD is set on the mean streets of Rio in the Cidade de Deus housing project. The story focuses on two boys who grow up taking very different paths. (The story is stretched over 15 years, from the late 1960s to the early 1980s). One becomes a photographer, the other a drug dealer. The film follows their paths through a series of vignettes, as we learn about the nasty, brutish and short lives of those wrapped up in the dangerous world of drugs and crime in the cruelest part of Brazil. "A potent and unexpected mixture of authenticity and flash." ~ Kenneth Turan, LOS ANGELES TIMES "Sometimes a movie comes along that just floors you, its images burn so deeply." ~ Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE "Pulses with atmosphere and vibrates with authenticity." ~ Lisa Schwarzbaum, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY. CITY OF GOD is up for four Oscars in February 2004: Best Directing, Cinematography, Adapted Screenplay and Editing.