In his book, “The City of God,” Saint Augustine of Hippo writes to defend Christianity against pagan claims of abandonment from God. When the city of Rome fell in , many citizens argued that it was Christianity’s fault, but Augustine says that Formal Elements in City of God Sydney Gayman College City of God. In Fernando Meirelles’ film City of God () the audience is City of God Essays. Words4 Pages. Criminal Behavior. The City of God is based on actual events that occurred in Rio de Janeiro during the ’s and ’s. The movie is about the rise and fall of a fearsome sociopath gang leader Li’l Ze, who reigned as king of the drug lords during the 70’s. The first part of the movie illustrates some of the forces that mold Li’l Ze into the man Savagery in Lord of the Flies and City of God Essay Words | 6 Pages. will always exist, because it is part of human nature. Far from the decent communities, savageness always works to overcome good. William Golding and Fernando Meirelles present these ideas in their works, the novel Lord of the Flies and the film City of God
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The film has been described as both disturbing and electrifying for its brutal realism and inspired city of god essay. In order to obtain an adequate understanding of the debate which surrounds City of God, it is essential examine various subjects, city of god essay. I firstly wish to obtain sufficient contextual knowledge of the modern favela in Brazil. The Cinema Novo movement similarly documents such issues as the poverty and the violence of the cangaco lifestyle addressed with in City of God[6]. Narrative structure is an essent. ial feature of the film and is used in a omplex manner. City of god essay tends to manipulate time frame, repeating and returning to the same events and jumping back and forth over the decade in which it is set.
There is a cyclical nature to the narrative as the first scene appears for a second time towards of the films end. This initial sequence is important for several reasons. It firstly establishes the restless cinematic style which comes to characterise the City of God. The scene begins with a montage of flashes that illuminates a series of close-ups, with cuts to black between each shot. We first see an extreme close-up of a glistening blade being pulled across a black rock and hear the jarring sound of metal on stone. City of god essay flashing imagery and harsh audio instantly create a sense of unease. From here, lively samba music fades in which coincides with extreme close-ups of fingers on the neck of a guitar, city of god essay, the shaking of a tambourine, a hand slapping the hide of a drum.
The fast edit of close-ups continues and begins to show faces, hands, tumblers of drinks, food being prepared, chickens being plucked and put into pots. The atmosphere is relaxed and jovial however, amidst the festivities the films first mid-shot shows a distressed chicken, watching its companions. A frantic chase characterised by a montage of colliding shots ensues: extreme close-ups followed by point of view and tracking shots. The spectator is thrown into the reckless and expeditious world of the characters, creating a sense of hedonistic abandon and excitement. The chase leads to the first of the dramatic scenes within City of God.
It is here that the shot rotates degrees, spinning us into the past, leaving the spectator keen to understand more. It is this exhilarating sequence of editing and camera work that has led some viewers to brand the film city of god essay indulgent exhibition of romanticized ghetto life. However, the producers of the film claim that the effects are present in order to assist the telling of a universally human story and are intended to capture its realism[9]. And the cost of the shot was There are three central sections within the film. Although they are consistent in character and often in circumstance, they should be seen as separate narratives. Each narrative represents the changing nature of the favela over a decade and contains its own visual style and mise-en-scene.
We are taken back in time to the nineteen-sixties where the City of God is no more than an orderly complex of neat bungalow city of god essay we are introduced to a more youthful Rocket. He is centred in a mid-shot which then cuts to a medium-long shot of his friends aiming a football in his direction. Two features are immediately apparent: the colour, lighting and the landscape. The earth on which the boys are playing appears to stretch far into the distance. This then cuts to shot in which we appear behind Rocket, who is guarding the goal posts. A wide-angle lens is used here which acts in furthering the sense of space.
The camera is static and the cuts are unhurried. This is not the dark, city of god essay, urban favela to which we were previously introduced and hints, therefore, city of god essay, at a sense of simplicity and freedom. The colour palette consists of yellows, oranges, deep browns and whites and a golden hue saturates the frame. This creates a romantic and certainly nostalgic tone for a. past which has been lost, city of god essay. It is presented as a kind of frontier land, which Bianca Medeiros has criticised as a familiar genre setting for the Western and therefore comfortable viewing for the foreign viewer[11]. This first section is also where our homodiegetic narrator introduces the numerous primary characters. These introductions are realised through a series of freeze frames on which titles and names are overlaid.
The Tender Trio are presented to us after we see a canted shot of Shaggy shooting a football in mid-air. The ball hits the floor and yet another low canted shot pictures the teenager spinning the revolver around his fingers in slow motion. It is here that a non-diegetic syncopated guitar city of god essay enters. Shaky cam shots of the entertained children follow as they laugh and city of god essay. The frame then freezes mid-action and zooms in on Shaggys smiling face as Rocket introduces him. I feel that this is the first instance of glamorised gangsterism[13]. The rousing city of god essay, laughing faces and Tarantino-esque freeze frames create an undeniable sense of cool.
This surrounds not only the characters but also the possession and shooting of the gun. This combination of editing, music and camera work is repeated when the Trio raid the Miami Motel. The patter of percussion instruments enters as a medium shot shows Shaggy dressed as a staff member enter the room of a couple who are having sex. A shot-reverse-shot sees the couple look up in surprise and the sequence cuts back to Shaggy who drops his tray city of god essay pulls out his gun. A montage of reveals his friends to be doing the same. Despite the screams of scared occupants the previously mentioned guitar motif enters. This trivialises the situation and injects an element of humour which I personally find unsettling. This is particularly so as the screen dissolves to black and transitions to a slow pan from left to right, displaying a room full of murdered people.
The darker tone established by the motel scene and the death of Shaggy, is maintained and continued into the second segment of the film. We enter the nineteen seventies with a car that pulls a screen wipe from right to left. A score of sharp Brazilian funk enters and a hand held camera tracks Rocket and Stringy as they stride towards Angelica and Thiago. The camera jolts as t tracks them from behind and places us in their gang on the walk to the beach. Rocket is the only of the key characters that is seen outside of the favela and later acts as a mediator between Rio and the City of God.
It has been said that the absence of alternatives available for many of the characters is represented by, city of god essay. an almost total lack of reference to spaces outside the slums[15]. The very implication of naturalness, of course is that it is unchangeable, immoveable — a force too complex to fully comprehend or confront. It is this which is at the very heart of the polemic debate surrounding City of God, city of god essay. Melo has observed the ease with which the Hollywood narrative is able to do just this — they are remarkable for inviting our emotional participation. They do not seek to educate, to make us understand things, to clarify ideas. If they raise cultural issues, city of god essay, it is not to discuss them as ideas but as emotion-laden values[17].
Yet again the colour and the lighting are emphasised. A blue filter shrouds the scene in a cool hue and the sun in the sky is overexposed once more. Multiple cuts from freeze frame to freeze frame are emphasized by the sound of a clicking camera shutter, city of god essay. Once more the shot is swiftly zooms in on the smiling faces and then slowly withdraws. Over the top of this scene plays a seventies psychedelic electric guitar solo, which yet again drenches the characters in retro glamour. The idyllic beach setting with clear white sands and vivid blue water offers an idealised image of Brazil, its favelas and the poverty in which they live. This cuts to a shot of Dice which is fluidly zooming in on his glistening face as he calls the gang member back.
This cuts to a medium shot of Dice framed by the bricks of his hideout as he aims and shoots. A burst of seventies style brass can be heard as the sequence hastily transitions to a medium shot of his smiling face as he shoots again. Meirelles reveals that he has continued to ruthlessly murder throughout. his childhood and into adolescence, but not without a smile on his face. The narrative has entered another city of god essay. We are no longer witnessing three amateurs on a brotherly adventure. This emphasis on visual fashion as a form of seduction, it has been said, epitomises the character of the postmodern communication environment and often results in the impoverishment of content[21].
This is, however, is not consistently the case. The shocking torture scene of the Runts is, at times, almost unwatchable. The red ominously suggests blood and constricts the frame — the boy is trapped. His facial expression is one of devastation and terror. The scene becomes bleaker still as Steak is instructed to murder either of the two. Long close-ups of each the three faces alternate as he takes the gun and all that can be heard is the crying of the youngest. Steak looks away and shoots whilst Ze erupts with excited laughter. The diegetic audio, lengthy shots of pained faces juxtaposed with gangs amorality is utterly chilling. The spectator is no longer relieved by stylish music or freeze frames city of god essay they style used here invites, even insists on our involvement[23].
It is clear here that the City of God is absent of morality or virtue and the irony of its name becomes fully apparent. The spectator is made complicit in the horrendous torture of a child. It is from here that films tone has begun to blacken; the romantic golden hues of the initial narrative are gone. This section sees Ze as not only a figure of pure evil. a psychopathic torturer of children, but also as a city of god essay influence over the last surviving agent of virtue — Knockout Ned. A swaying medium long-shot pictures the couple embrace in a shady street, the only illumination is a small key light from above. Brazillian wind instruments and percussion fade in and out as a medium shot shows Ze watching them. His wild stare is emphasised by city of god essay depth of field and the music which pervades the scene is continues to fade in and out.
This becomes extremely unsettling as we anticipate his reaction, city of god essay.
Beyond the Frame: Editing (City of God)
, time: 7:25City Of God, Analysis Essay Sample
Sep 25, · City Of God (Analysis Essay Sample) September 25, by admin Essay Samples, Free Essay Samples. The essence of movies is in most cases, for entertainment and maybe education. While this might be the case, very few times do we find a movie that embodies not only the social challenges affecting a certain society, but also painting a real picture of just Savagery in Lord of the Flies and City of God Essay Words | 6 Pages. will always exist, because it is part of human nature. Far from the decent communities, savageness always works to overcome good. William Golding and Fernando Meirelles present these ideas in their works, the novel Lord of the Flies and the film City of God City of God Essays. Words4 Pages. Criminal Behavior. The City of God is based on actual events that occurred in Rio de Janeiro during the ’s and ’s. The movie is about the rise and fall of a fearsome sociopath gang leader Li’l Ze, who reigned as king of the drug lords during the 70’s. The first part of the movie illustrates some of the forces that mold Li’l Ze into the man
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