city of god essays

city of god essays In the introductory scene, there is a chicken running through narrow hallways in a Brazilian slum called City of God. Chasing the chicken, there are dozens of thugs waving and shooting guns trying to kill it. At that point, the hero of the movie, Rocket, is presented as what seems to be just another young man that is going to be bullied, or probably killed by the gang members if he doesnt catch the chicken. From there on, director Fernando Meirelles relocates the story a decade before, allowing the public to witness the changes on the slum that conducted to introduction of the movie, and to show that Rocket is a courageous man that is able to face his worst fears. The film is a coming of age story that uses bold cinematography and narrative to powerfully convey its message. The story is a documentary-like film that explains the evolution of violence in that poor city while telling the coming of age story of two kids that moved in opposite directions. On the one hand, there is a kid named Rocket who decided that he didnt want to be a criminal and opposed the violence happening around him. He tries to be a correct man. He falls in love with a pretty girl while working his way to become a photographer. When he sees his first camera, he knows what he wants to do with his life(Oppenheimer). However, after working on dead end jobs and realizing that the girl dumped him for a gang member, Rocket decides to try being a thief, but he finds out that he is not that type of person. Instead, he gradually grows to be a man with aspirations and the will to improve and move out of City of God. On the other hand, there is a boy named Li'l Z who admires his brother and his thug friends that live robbing people in order to buy drugs and to have fun. Li'l Z ends up surpassing the original gang members of the City of God and become ruthless murderer that is not afraid of anything and that craves total contr...