Researching Brazilian films prior to City Of God (2002)

Researching Brazilian Films Prior to City of God

City of God premiered in 2002 so I have decided to research two other Brazilian films (Pixote and Central Station to identify how the Brazilian Cinematic landscape has changed over time and to compare the similarities and differences between City of God and the Brazilian films that came before it.


Pixote (1980):

- Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco (Small child: The Law of the Weak) is a Brazilian drama released in 1980 and was directed by Hector Barbenco
- Pixote is a documentary-like account of Brazil's delinquent youth and how corrupt police & other crime organisations use them to commit crimes.
- Plot: Follows Pixote, a young homeless adolescent who is thrown into jail where he is tortured, before fleeing and becoming a criminal in an underworld of violence and transporting drugs.
- The film is critically acclaimed and directors such as Spike Lee have cited 'Pixote' as being amongst their favourite films.

What I notice visually about 'Pixote':
- Heavy emphasis on colour, from the trailer it seems that brighter colours are used for positive scenes and darker and colder colours are used for downbeat scenes.
- The children have guns and are taking part in acts such as driving cars, shows lack of control in authority in Brazil.

Similarities to City of God:
- Both films present a real life account of the horror for a young child growing up in the favela. Fernando Ramos da Silva, who plays Pixote, was killed at age 19 by Brazilian Police which conveys the themes of loss of young life in Brazil that both Pixote and City of God present.
- Both movies are shot in the manner of a documentary; Meirelles & Barbenco are influenced by the Italian neorealism as they used amateur actors whose lives resembled their characters and the story that was being told.
- The children have guns which emphasises the danger in Brazil.
- The themes of danger and violence were prevalent in the 80's as well as this millennium 

Differences to City of God:
- More atmospheric than City of God, less dialogue in the trailer compared to City of God which is dialogue heavy due to the narration
-  City of God and Pixote differ drastically as COG uses music and voiceover, creates a distinct feel for each period and frequent narrative digressions + backtracking. (from Variety's review of City of God in 2002)
- While City of God takes violence to an extremity, Pixote is a lot more artistic and is way more brutal and shocking than City of God.
- The main character is involved in crime side of the action in Pixote whereas whilst Rocket witnesses the crimes, he himself never takes part in committing gun violence.



Central Station (1998):

- Central Do Brazil (Central Station) is a Brazilian drama released in 1998 and was directed by Walter Salles (who would later go on to direct The Motorcycle Diaries about Che and a film adaptation of On The Road).
- Central Station is the name of Rio De Janiero's main railway station.
- Plot: Follows a friendship between a young boy and a middle-aged women.
- The film is critically acclaimed and scored Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actress (Fernanda Montenegro). The film was also ranked at #57 in Empire Magazine's '100 Best films of world cinema'


What I notice visually about 'Central Station':
- Bright colours are used to reflect the positive mood of the film

Similarities to City of God:
- Uses music to enhance its storytelling
- Focuses on a young child at the forefront of the picture: conveys the importance of youth in Brazil as all three films have had children at the centre of their films.
- Both Central Station & City of God turned their directors into international names as they presented powerful portrayal's of life in Brazil
- Also uses neorealism by having performers from non-professional acting backgrounds.

Differences to City of God:
- Presents a much more positive vibe to Brazil than Pixote or City of God did. I think this film is probably based in the middle class area of Brazil and not the favela's. The story is presented as a nicely paced drama on a friendship between two people in Brazil whereas the friendships formed in City of God and Pixote were mostly based around violence or drugs.
- No violence is shown in the trailer, way more peaceful than City of God and this reflects the more relaxed era between the Military Dictatorship of the 60's to the 80's and the rise in favela's and crime that continued to drastically rise at the start of the new millennium.


In conclusion whilst 'Central Station' and 'Pixote' take different approaches to 'City of God' in showing life in Brazil, all of the films contain similar themes of showing life in Brazil through the eyes of a younger person and using neorealism to enhance the effect of these stories feeling like a documentation account of Rio.