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Directed by Written by Starring Presented by 110 minutes |
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CITY
OF MEN Review
With CITY OF GOD, the harsh realm of the streets of Rio de Janeiro were shown to the world and was met with resounding success, establishing Fernando Merielles as a filmmaker to watch. The theme of growing in an environment spinning out of control became a theme in the unofficial follow up, CITY OF MEN, which Merielles produced to hand the reigns to Paulo Morelli. Starting as a TV series (played in the US on Sundance), CITY OF MEN chronicled the life of two best friends about to enter adulthood at the age of 18, but live in a gang ridden, poverty stricken hill that shows them wise beyond their years. As they get caught up in a gang war, the two discover secrets about their pasts that threatens both their friendship and their lives. Acerola (Douglas Silva), known as Ace, has just turned 18. He already has a wife and a young son that he cares for. His best and lifelong friend is Laranjinha, nicknamed Wallace (Darlan Cunha) who is weeks away from turning 18. When reaching the age of 18, Brazilian residents are given ID cards, and Wallace wishes to know the identity of his father, who he never knew. Ace, meanwhile, also never knew his father, who was murdered while Ace was a baby. As the two discover Wallace’s father, an ex-convict recently released from manslaughter, Wallace tries to form a bond with him. Wallace is also the cousin of Midnight, the hill’s gang leader and drug dealer, who has ruled for many years. His reign seems to be coming to an end as his former right hand man Fausto teams up with a rival gang leader to take over the hill and end Midnight’s reign. Fausto arranges the murder of local screw up Fiel, the sister of Wallace’s girlfriend, and when Ace accidentally sees Fiel alive, he becomes a target of Fausto and finds himself reluctantly joining Midnight’s gang at the expense of his friendship with Wallace. Even though the film is an extension from the TV series, CITY OF MEN does an excellent job of establishing the characters even if you haven’t seen the series and works as a stand alone film. There are scenes from the show cut in at the beginning to establish the friendship between Ace and Wallace. There are few films that establish the characters as well as CITY OF GOD. The other factor is while CITY OF GOD was very flashy in its technique (and since then has been shamelessly copied), CITY OF MEN has a very gritty, realistic feel to it. Shot entirely on handheld cameras, the locations show the harsh realities of life in Brazil. The hill is Midnight’s as he has his crew around in broad daylight carrying semi-automatic weapons. When the gang war escalates, the locals are frightened but go into a pattern that appears so routine it’s become as familiar to them as sleep. There is plenty of violence in the film, especially when Fausto’s plan comes into effect, but the violence displayed here is intense and not bloody at all. There’s lots of gunfire and chaos, but blood is very rarely shown. It doesn’t diminish the impact in the least, as a matter of fact, it enhances it by the performances and the atmosphere around the hill. Being the cousin of Midnight, Wallace is banned from the hill and forced to find a new home, which he does in his new father and forms a bond. Ace, targeted by Fausto as a snitch, finds shelter in the members of Midnight’s gang. The story between Wallace and his father Heraldo is the central core of the film, as Heraldo is reluctant to enter Wallace into his life, but slowly develops a bond with his son. Heraldo also shows disdain for Ace, which strains Wallace’s relationship with his friend. As Wallace forms a bond with his father, Ace is also given responsibility of his son Clayton when his wife makes a decision to leave to become a nurse for a year, the reason being the pay would be so good she could come back and buy a house for the three of them and really start a family. It is through Heraldo that Ace and Wallace discover a part of their past that they never knew about, and threatens their friendship even more. The characters are extremely sympathetic, and it makes the film tense when violence erupts on screen, because you don’t want to see anything happen to these characters. When they are threatened, it provides some thrilling moments in the film. At 110 minutes, the film has many storylines flowing well with each other, and only in a few moments does the film’s pace slow down, particularly Wallace’s relationship with his girlfriend, also Fiel’s sister. Other than that, there’s a lot of story in this film, and it is exceptionally told with an excellent script by Morelli and Elena Soarez. In all, CITY OF MEN is a wonderfully made film that shows the real life grittiness of a place with no escape as the rite of passage into adulthood. At its core, it is a tale of two friends grown up without fathers who try to escape a land of violence that is the only place they know. Basically, any American teenager who complains of their teenage years have absolutely nothing on these men. This is real angst, real trials, and real filmmaking. CITY OF MEN: 8 Out Of 10 Maggots
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