Your Top 50 Movies: 2013 Discussion Thread- Final Day!

[SvennoJ]

13. City of god, 2002, Fernando Meirelles, Katia Lund


I rented this movie about 9 years ago and it immediately made a big impression on me. I decided to buy the blu-ray at the beginning of this top 50 thread and have watched it 3 times since. A masterfully woven narrative about the lives of several kids growing up in the city of god, a housing project erected near Rio in the 60's. The story is based on real life events and shows the harsh reality of living in a poverty stricken community in the grip of drugs and armed gangs.
The documentary film style works great for this movie. The film looks terrific, warm colors with lots of film grain shining through, fast cuts, clever flashbacks, different perspectives from intersecting storylines, and beautiful wide shots, it has it all.
The movie comes to life by the actors, most of whom have lived in the City of God themselves. The events are brutal at times but always feel plausible, and besides all the crime and kids killing other kids there is still room for humor and romance. In fact there is so much story here, spanning 30 years, that watching it for the 3rd time I still saw things I had missed earlier.

City of god is the highest reality based movie on my list, a definite must see.