City Of God: Revision Guide

Global Film (COG & PL)
- Film Form
- Meaning & Response
- Contexts

KEY SCENES ANALYSIS:
https://jordanilanjcossfilmstudies.blogspot.com/2017/10/city-of-god-5-scene-analysis-viewing.html
Includes (with references to film forms, context & themes):

- The 60's -> The story of the Tender Trio

- The story of Lil Ze

- The runts

- The assault on Knockout Ned, his girlfriend & his family

- Rocket as reporter

https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=8FD3295705B0A1A7!148&ithint=file%2cpptx&app=PowerPoint&authkey=!AKvuzLTwFmzcGHs

Full detailed analysis of:

- Choosing which kid to shoot

- Bene's death/farewell

- The final scene

https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=8FD3295705B0A1A7!151&ithint=file%2cpptx&app=PowerPoint&authkey=!AIHxgpTBfIemWJs

Full detailed analysis of:

- Shaggy's Death

- Bene's death

- Lil Ze's death

Interview with Fernando Meirelles -> https://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/city-of-gods-an-interview-with-fernando-meirelles

Film Forms:

Representation is always someone's version of something - not reality

Selection: Whatever is shot on screen is a snapshot of the full picture, much more will be left out

Organisation: The elements of the shots are organised carefully to tell a certain story: incorporating the mise-en-scene and narrative of the piece

Focusing: Audiences are pushed towards concentrating on one aspect of the text. You make your own decisions about what is worth our attention. The media tries to do this for us through mediation: what the director wants to make you feel.

Representation refers to the construction in any medium (especially the mass media) of aspects of 'reality' such as people/places/objects/events/cultural identities

Mediation - Encountering media texts, not seeing reality but someone's version of it. Media takes something real and changes it to produce the text we end up seeing

With close reference to the two films you have studied, explore how either performance or mise-en-scène create meaning.

Performance:
- Discussion of performance in terms of casting, the use of voice and non-verbal gesture, performance style, interaction between actors and the broader 'choreography' of movement
- Consideration how these aspects of performance convey meaning, communicating messages and values to spectators
- Recognition aspects of performance may give rise to multiple connotations and consequently different meanings and competing interpretations.
- May consider the ideological implications of performance.

Working with non-professional actors:
- Used non-professionals as wanted to recreate the same feeling of the book as it would make the events of the film feel more natural and real.
- Meirelles learned from Mike Leigh & Ken Loach to not give his actors a script
- Meirelles would tell his actors the intentions behind each scene & character and allowed them to improvise which also created a stronger sense of reality through this style.
- 70% of what you see/hear on screen was improvised.

Mise-en-scene:
- Discussion of mise-en-scène in terms of, for example, setting, costume, props and staging
- How these aspects of mise-en-scène convey meaning, communicating messages and values to spectators
- Recognition aspects of mise-en-scène may give rise to multiple connotations and consequently different meanings and competing interpretations.
- May consider the ideological implications of mise-en-scène.

Opening Scene:

- Lots of props are used in the opening scene in order to give an introduction to the area

- Many tight shots/framing is tight -> this creates a sense of claustrophobia and intensity which creates uneasiness in the viewer

- The film focuses on one specific aspect per shot and is handheld

- The momentary silence in the opening scene allows the audience to take in what they are watching, gives them a chance to breathe and relax from entering this world

Apartment Scene:

- Mise-en-scene is stripped away/bare of its character, driving force in this scene, shows how the apartment has gone from being decorated to being rundown.
- The lighting used in this scene is similar to the lighting used in the first scene (the golden glow) which signifies to the audience that there has been a change in time as the apartment is presented as gold to convey the favela was less brutal in the 60's compared to the 80's.
- The golden glow at the start of the scene is used to show that selling drugs was originally for a seedy but noble reason (money to help raise kids) and the blue glow is used when the film returns to normal after the flashback to show how the selling of drugs was just for seedy reasons (sole purpose = making money).
- The scene starts with a high key warm pink light (selling for right reasons, bringing up her daughter) and transforms to a low key dark light to reflect danger

‘The Story of the Tender Trio’ retains some of the romantic, warm imagery of the earlier poetic representations of outlaws, social bandits, echoing the cangaceiros, the revolutionary outsiders of earlier Brazilian films but there is often a disjunction between the image we see on screen and what we hear Rocket say. The image of Bené and Dice with their arms round each other laughing will recur later in the film as a sepia coloured insert, the recollection of a lost more innocent time. 

• A montage of shots of six images that turn the boy Dice into the man Zé. His rebirth is through a candlelit voodoo christening ceremony that evokes the dead. A priest in a wheelchair gives him a magic amulet that seals his pact with death and sanctifies his violent behaviour. God has forgotten him and he can gain power through Exu the devil “the light that shines forth”. The glimpse of slum dwellers wearing gold jewellery, with their cars and girls bears some relationship to the understood paraphernalia of the gangster film. 

• In contrast to this Rocket is seen in an atmosphere of normality and freedom - working in the newspaper office, riding around in the newspaper delivery van with the open aspect of the mountain in the distance. 

Cinematography:

Opening Scene:

- The cinematography in the opening scene gets brighter as the scene progresses

- The scene with the knife starts with little colour, however an overwhelming use of colour is used during the rest of the scene

- The colour palette: blue at the start of the film and gold when the film flashbacks. The blue represents coldness and how Rocket has been desensitised by what he has witnessed whilst he has grown up. The golden colour represents warmness as Rocket is unaware of the violence that occurs in the City of God. The golden colour also represents how Rocket feels he has loads of opportunities and is presented as naive & excited. The cinematography conveys how Rocket sees the world.

- Flashback: the camera presents a wider angle which conveys that Rocket has more freedom & feels less trapped. However Rocket's experiences take away his vision of life being golden so the camera uses a smaller angle during the opening scene.

- Historical context: 60's -> all got their own place/making a living

                                 80's -> favelas are more claustrophobic & dangerous

Flashback: 

- happy, uplifting non diegetic music is used to mimic Rocket's mood

- Audience sees foreshadowing of danger in this scene due to the language used between the 'Tender Trio' and the shooting of the football, wheras Rocket just sees Shaggy's tricks with the football as being cool and he associated the guns with fun (due to the shooting of the ball) and not the violence that they actually cause.

Apartment Scene

- Camera is static, this gives the audience a clearer insight into the apartment and signifies that something different is occurring. The fixed camera is a metaphor for how the infrastructure of the area hasn't changed, there has only been a change in what is symbolises.

- Meirelles uses the fade effect throughout the scene. The fades are used when there is a change of ownership in the apartment so this shows the evolution of time. The characters also walk into darkness when they are no longer the owner of the apartment which presents that they are no longer the leader of the City of God and are forgotten about (e.g. the women in the 1st flashback looks like a ghost to present that she has been forgotten). This also conveys the theme of death and that life is cheap in City of God as the drug trade becomes more illegal as the constant cycle of the drug business continues.

- Meirelles uses a low angle when Lil Ze is shooting people to present him as menacing. Meirelles also uses a canted angle in the scene where Lil Ze has turned 18 to show imbalance and how he is unhinged which conveys that he is not level headed.

Cinematography 

- The film depicts the changing nature of the slum, the favela itself features as a major character that grows and changes. The open environment where there are spaces to play football gives way to the closed one with the cramped and narrow streets confined by apartment blocks, tin roofed shacks, and graffiti spattered walls. The characters become more and more hemmed in by the encroachment of these walls and barriers, their dimensions emphasised by overhead shots. The characters are imprisoned, the killings are speeded up. 

• Camera in a fixed position for ‘The Story of the Apartment’, spectator watching from a place in the stalls of a theatre, not entering the Apartment or seeing things from the characters’ points of view, a marked contrast to the highly mobile style of most of the film. A wide-angle lens and deep focus give an exaggerated perspective to the room where figures appear large in the foreground, small in the background. The story is told with a series of dissolves where people appear, disappear and reappear in different parts of the room. In the Apartment the characters watch themselves. The walls change colour, the furniture moves, and objects change. The lighting gets darker and darker. The story appears like a series of tableaux. 

• The atmosphere created by lighting, cinematography and camera movement can be illustrated by looking at the disco scene where Bené is killed. Shots of the dancing crowd from the dancers’ eye line contrast with high angle shots from Rocket’s point of view as he puts discs on the turn table, emphasising his position as an observer and not a participant.

One element that Fernando Meirelles uses to create meaning in City of God is cinematography. This is depicted through the deaths of Shaggy and Bene. Meirelles uses lighting during the scene of Shaggy's death to create meaning; the lighting at the start of the scene is high-key as the sun is glistening which represents the hope of escaping the City Of God for a 'brighter' future but the lighting changes when Shaggy dies as the shadows disappeared. This creates meaning as the lighting depicts that Shaggy's dream of escaping the lifestyle of City of God is no longer a reality and conveys Shaggy's loss of life. This ignites a response from the audience as the use of lighting signifies how another youngster has lost their life due to gang life so this creates sympathy from the audience as they feel sorry how these kids were prevented from a better life due to their living conditions. Lighting is also high-key in the scene of Bene's death as strobe lighting is used in the build up to Bene being shot and the aftermath of the shooting. This creates meaning as the flicker of the strobe lighting is a metaphor for the last moments of Bene's life and how the light goes out of a person after they die. Dark lighting is also used during this scene to generate tension for the audience as the night setting foreshadows the future chaos which allows the audience to be more focused as they are interested to see how this scene plays out. The use of lighting also creates meaning as the dark lighting parallels to the dark nature of the citizens of the City of God and represents how death takes over hope. The impact of deaths is also shown through the reactions of the characters girlfriends. The close-up of Shaggy's girlfriend presents facial expressions of horror and sadness which makes the audience feel sympathetic for her because of her heartbreak and Angelica (Bene's girlfriend) is presented at a high angle after his death which conveys her devastation at her boyfriend's death and her fear of Lil Ze. Both of these reactions creates meaning as they convey how the girlfriends have nothing left in the world that is as important to them and how their lives have changed forever because of this moment. Meirelles uses cinematography throughout City of God to capture the character reactions at pivotal moments and to create a response for the audience.

Explore how either editing or sound create meaning
Editing:
- Discussion of editing in terms of the shot to shot relationships of continuity editing, montage editing, examples of stylised forms of editing and visual effects created in post-production
- How these editing convey meaning, communicating messages and values to spectators
- Recognition aspects of editing may give rise to multiple connotations and consequently different meanings and competing interpretations.
- May consider the ideological implications of editing.

Opening Scene:

- Fast paced & quick to present the intensity of life in Brazil

- The transition between each shot of the knife is in pitch black which represents blinking -> this makes the audience feel that they are there as a person waking up into this fast paced world

- The sound + camera flashing doesn't relent & wakes you up

- The opening scene uses the blinking effect of fading in and out

- Daniel Rezende editor “What we tried to do with the editing was attempt to use ‘effects’ whenever we thought that this could bring something extra to the sensation or emotion that we were aiming to evoke. If the situation is tense, and there’s no time to think, we speed it up and make it even tenser. If the character is going to be important later, then we freeze the face to commit it to memory. If both things happen at the same time then we split the screen, so as not to lose anything. In the third part of the film, we especially welcomed anything out of the ordinary for the editing style. If a ‘badly made’ cut could increase levels of discomfort in the viewer then we incorporated it.” 

• The ‘restless’ style, characteristic of the film, announces itself from the start. It begins not with the customary establishing shot but with flashes that illuminate a series of close ups - knife, hand, and stone – with a cut to black between each shot. Another photographic flash illuminates Rocket with his camera. He zooms out from behind a network of bars, which collapses down into his image. This is in fact a flash forward to the scene that will replay very near the end of the film, where we will see then that the reverse shot has denied us here, with Zé bribing the police after his gun battle with Ned and subsequent arrest. He has been introduced as a key player in the drama, but still only a fragment. The montage of conflicting shots and the collision of the fast paced editing now gives way to the spectacular circling shots which will morph Rocket from a young man to a boy, and the favela to its former days of low rise shacks and open spaces. The meeting between two of the principle characters initiates the story; the circular shot will provide the bridge between what they were and what they will become. 

• The series of tight close ups zooms in and out on further fragments of street life - faces, a guitar, a tambourine, hands with tumblers of drinks, hands scraping and chopping carrots, chicken feet and chickens being lowered into the cooking pot. The first mid shot of the film is of a live chicken on the table, tethered by its leg. A cut provides the first long establishing shot of the film. The chicken jumps down off the table making a bid for freedom. Brazilians describe a situation that appears to have taken off and be going but will soon crash to the ground as a “flying chicken”. This apparent freedom is illusionary – the chicken might try to fly but it can’t get very far. A close up low-level shot from the chicken’s point of view shows a plate of blood on the ground, a reminder of the chicken’s fate. 

Sound:
- Discussion of sound in terms of parallel and contrapuntal sound, diegetic, non-diegetic sound, foley sound, examples of expressive uses of sound the relationship between dialogue and ambient sound and the uses of multi-track sound mixing and layering
- How these sound convey meaning, communicating messages and values to spectators
- Recognition aspects of sound may give rise to multiple connotations and consequently different meanings and competing interpretations.

- May consider the ideological implications of sound.

Opening Scene:

- Non-diegetic - allows the viewer to be introduced to the atmosphere of the favela & introduces the culture of Latin America by using traditional music from Brazil

- High-tempo music is used which portrays the vibrancy of the City of God
- The music builds louder and louder as the scene progresses to convey how tension increases as the scene continues
- Lots of energy from both types of sounds -> the energy is present immediately as the action starts straight away and the opening scene foreshadows that the film won't slow down in its pace as the film progresses.
- The non diegetic soundtrack alongside the sharpening of the knife shows the juxtaposition between celebration and violence

Apartment Scene:

- Limited music is used in this scene, just narration about how the apartment has changed

- Crescendo of dramatic music is used when Lil Ze is shooting people to present how he has become more and more obsessed with killing
- Music cuts out when there is a knock on the door to convey that the film is back in the room at the present time
- Dialogue and narration overlap -> keeps audiences hooked and clued in on what's occurring
- Narration from Rocket throughout the scene

Role of Music:- The role of music in the film reflects the musical nature of Brazil as a country and its people.
- Music is always playing if you go to a favela and walk by the houses (such as samba, funk & rap music)
- Meirelles received some criticism in Brazil due to the amount of music used in the film, which could be very upbeat/happy/funny, but Meirelles defended his use of using upbeat music as a favela is a very fun place to be so Meirelles tried to capture this spirit through the music.

- The use of the first person narrator places us in a particular position in regard to what we might describe as the narrative “truth” of the film. The use of various cinematic devices that insert us into the text and privilege our understanding – point of view, shot-reverse-shot, eye line match – are sometimes undercut by the voice over that contradicts that position. 
• Diegetic music documents the era. Bené dancing to James Brown’s Sex Machine emphasises his new found persona. Kung Fu Fighting, a song about controlled power played at Bené’s farewell party, is an ironic counterpoint to the real violence that erupts there. 
• The music then often acts in a similar way to Rocket’s commentary, as a seductive counterpoint to the violent images. In many films the music underscores the mood of the drama played out on the screen. A tense, violent or emotional moment will be signalled and echoed by the sounds we hear. The music that accompanies the end credits of City of God is what Brazilians call saudade, (happy/ sad) leaving the audience with a feeling of nostalgia. This can be said to work against the carnage and deprivation we have been witnessing and neutralise the impact of the film.


Extra Scene notes that don't fit into the above 4 categories:
COG Opening Scene:
The opening sequence of City Of God portrays to the audience the rapid pace of life in the favelas in Brazil and introduces us to some of the characters that will be important in the film.

The Sharpening of the Knives:

- Frantic, a faster piece with each sharpening of the knife

- Diegetic sound
- The imagery of the knife foreshadows danger
- Replaces the establishing shot
Camera:
- Fernando Meirelles (the director) uses low angle shots in this scene of the children to present the chaos that they cause and the power that they have over the chicken; the chicken is also shot from a high angle which also conveys that the chicken is being chased by something that has more power than the chicken. Merielles also uses a low angle shot when the children are aiming guns at the chicken to emphasise the children's power over the chicken.
- In the opening scene, the viewer sees an extreme close up of the chicken's blood on a plate which foreshadows that the chickens are just the start of the killings in the film and that this film will have themes centred around violence and killings.

The Apartment Scene:

- The apartment scene in City of God is a scene that shows the transition of the apartment (which is the main port of drug dealing in the favela) over the years and how the people and the place has changed between 1960 & the 80's.

- Each owner is younger than the previous owner; this presents how more and more youngsters are turning to life of crime in order to survive in the City Of God.

- The furniture becomes less and less as the scene progresses, presents the degradation of the apartment; the apartment used to inhabit furniture but not inhabits crime, distrust & death
- The apartment becomes a metaphor for who's running the City of God/the neighbourhood
- The viewer is an observer in this scene -> their sole purpose is to take things in
- Lack of women: sidelined, catalyst for violent actions, they hold the power but have no power (e.g. it was because of a woman that the drug business at the apartment started in the first place.
- This scene conveys that the police are involved and can be paid off, depicts a lack of authority in the City of God and that the apartment owner can hold power over the police.
- Editing: dissolves in and out, emphasis on time period.

Representation of Aggressive Masculinity:

- City of God deals with hyper-realism

- Hyper-realism is when everything is taken to an extreme: breaks ceiling of masculinity. For example in City of God the characters aren't satisfied with just being in charge so they want to kill as well to assert their power (e.g. Lil Ze turning 18 and wanting to kill all his opposition)

- Extreme examples in the film include: the girl being killed for sleeping with another man, the rape scene, nightclub scene, the final battle where the characters have a machine gun

- Other examples are: kids playing football in their spare time (typical), Lil Ze as a school 'bully', the character of Lil Ze as a child and adult in general and Lil Ze confronting a man in the street.

https://jordanilanjcossfilmstudies.blogspot.com/2017/10/essay-representation-of-aggressive.html -> Essay on Aggressive Masculinity

Representation of Violence:

- Theme of violence represented in particular throughout the film

Key thoughts for representations of violence:

- Why was the material filmed/edited in the way it was?

- What effects are the filmmakers attempting to have on the audience & how have specific techniques been used in order to try and achieve these effects?

Hotel Scene:

- Unpremeditated attack

- Cinematography: canted angles to present the unpremeditated nature of the attack, bright lighting is used

- Editing: Fast, gives the impression of disorganisation/spur of the moment

- Performance: Over the top, frantic, also seem sympathetic

- Sound: playful music used

The Killing:

- Slow crossfade

- Red car leaving represents the robbing scene we just watched, surrounded by darkness/pale colours, shot behind bars (gives connotations of crime/danger), fixed camera at garage -> less frantic nature and the mood has changed, the blurring of the two scenes gets rid of the excitement that the editing created.

- Sound almost silent, presents deadly nature of scene. Ambient sound is used (diegetic), strips away sound so the eyes take over and the lack of sound re-emphasises the powerful and haunting visual.

- Slow reveal (2 tracking shots of corpses) presents the true extent of the horror and the brutality/lack of fun in crime. Director stamps on in this scene that he disagrees with violence as it isn't glorified, the tracking shot presents killing is bad.

City of God: Why was it a success?

- Something new - Western speaking audiences unaware of the story as it was a hidden story

- Exotic culture

- Non-genre specific? - borrows elements of recognisable genre conventions and blends them with Brazilian film-making styles.

- American influences throughout the film (films of a similar ilk such as 'Goodfellas' and 'Pulp Fiction' were also successful) mixed with Brazilian flair

- Hyper realistic, high saturation of colour, music blended together made people more intrigued about what the film was about and increased interest in watching City of God.

- Accessible to Western Audiences: we recognised it, can see the Western influence in the construct of the film.

Representation:
• The complex 3-story structure involves 13 major characters whose actions motivate the story, and 11 secondary characters who act as foils to the action. The rival gangs and the Runts contain some nameless characters. City of God has no or very few personal details. The only families we see are those of Rocket and Ned and both play very minor roles. Characters are in many ways incomplete and two-dimensional. We know nothing, or next to nothing about their background. 
• Mané Galinha / Knockout Ned is assured and handsome. He has lived outside the favela as he served for the military, as well as this his job as a bus fare collector also takes him into the outside world. He has no thought of antagonising others. The rape of his girlfriend and the murder of his brother and father draw him back in. He contrasts with Zé in his appearance, a fact commented on by Rocket. Whereas Ned is tall and handsome Zé is pequeno (small). Unlike Zé, who is given no motivation other than inherent evil, Ned’s fall into violence is motivated by the need for revenge. Ned is the tragic hero, drawn into gang warfare and forced to use his physical prowess and skills as a marksman when he embarks on his quest for retribution. Described by Rocket as a hero who takes on the bad guy, initially welcomed as some sort of saviour or champion by the inhabitants of the City of God, he is transformed into a kind of terrible avenging angel. 
• This is a film that centres on an aggressive definition of masculinity. The female characters have passive and peripheral roles. The women in the film - Shorty’s wife, Dona Zelia, Blacky’s unseen girlfriend and Ned’s girlfriend are there to be the recipients of male violence and are attacked, murdered and raped. Berenice and Angélica may reject this violence but they are sucked into it as observers and mourners. They “disappear” from the narrative and what happens to them afterwards is of no consequence. Angélica, threatened by Zé, leaves Bené’s body and is not seen again. Berenice, who was given the gun, is seen fleetingly as a gangster’s moll. Marina’s function is to provide the bridge to Rocket’s entry into manhood and the outside world. 

Aesthetics:
- Fernando Meirelles was in charge of the images; Kátia Lund helped in the character development and supervised the crew. Mereilles had no experience of the favelas and needed someone who knew their way around the area and could negotiate with the people who lived there. Kátia Lund is the daughter of middle class American parents who now feels that she’s Brazilian. They started the organisation “Nós do cinema” / “We of the Cinema”, a workshop project for boys from the favelas. They chose 200 who they then trained to be actors in the film. 
• From 1960 to 1964 the first phase of Cinema Novo “an idea in your head and a camera in your hand” established modern cinema in Brazil. It transformed its image outside the country by reason of its critical success. The Brazil that it symbolised of was one of exploitation, violence and deprivation. 
• Buscapé / Rocket, the documenter and voiceover in City of God, is based on the photographer Wilson Rodrigues. He becomes Rodrigues at the end of the film and his association with photography enhances his “neutral” view of events. The poverty and violence are seen through the viewfinder of his camera, he documents the final shoot out. He is the one who informs us what is taking place both on a local level (the City of God itself) and at a national level (the slums of Brazil). City of God mixes the notion of the reporter with his objective camera that is able to reveal the truth of a sordid and violent area with the films own highly manipulated and constructed style

Context:
1960's:
Government of Brazil:
- 9 presidents in 60's: 4 from Second Republic & 5 from Military takeover
- 1961: president (Joao Goulart), attempted to nationalise country's oil refineries + limit profit going abroad but was deposed by army
- During 60's political prisoners politicised others who were in jail with them so crime organisation (Comando Vermelhom) began to proclaim enemy as government/big business/middle class. Roman Catholic priests criticised gov's failure to help poor -> presents people of Brazil turning against Gov
- Military coup deposed Goulart in '64 which led to military dictatorship occurring
Culture:
- Rio = centre of culture in 60's, many people visited museums (such as National Museum of Fine Arts & National Historical Museum)
- Tropicalia artistic movement (encompassing art forms such as theatre, music & poetry) took off in the late 60's and saw a fusion between traditional Brazilian culture & foreign influences (documentary on Tropicalia made in 2012 & Fernando Meirelles served as exec producer on it)
- Capital of Brazil removed from Rio to Brasilia during 60's
- Favela's going to be removed in full-scale eradication campaigns initiated in 60's/70's. Original settlements intended as temporary housing for displaced favela residents until city & state gov could erect permanent housing projects. As weren't properly maintained & management style = unpopular amongst residents, parks were abandoned & within several years after their first occupation. Led to population of Favela's increasing in 60's
- Rio in late 60's -> automobile industry taken off, Rio = sandy area

1970's:
Government:
- Military dictatorship reached popularity height in 70's with Brazilian Miracle
- Regime = brutal on residents; censored all media & tortured + banished dissidents
- Figueiredo became President in March '79 but struggled to control inflation & fall of other military dictatorships in South America
Culture:
- Income more unevenly distributed across Brazil
- Brazil economy heavily affected by first oil shock = decrease in trade
- GDP per capita doubled -> citizens had higher income + more money to spend
- Cinemas became more popular in 70's
- Sport very popular, Brazil won 3rd World Cup & 1st Formula One World Championship
- Favela's continued to increase in size, led to more brutality in Brazil as more people experienced rough upbringings

1980's
Government:
- Military rule in Gov came to end in '84 when Presidential elections won by opposition
- '88: 1988 Constitution passed & Brazil returned to full democracy, military refused roles in domestic policies & returned under control of politicians
Culture:
- Income even more unevenly distributed across Brazil
- GDP per capita collapsed = citizens had much lower income + lil money to spend
- Wage inequality increased sharply & continuously in early 80's
- Metro subway became popular -> more subways built in 80's -> allowed people of Rio to access wider range of places in their city
- Bearing brunt of increase in violence was the poor, mostly non-white youths of the city's slums. A person of colour was more than 2x as likely to be the victim of a homicide than white citizens of the same age group
- Important hub in trade of illicit drugs -> by mid 80's favela residents traded threat of relocation with threat of drug violence & police repression
- 1985: Rio = country's most important place for drugs from Andean regions to US/Europe & developed into sizeable local consumer market for cocaine that was virtually non-existent in previous years
- As Brazilian gov gradually moved away from military rule & toward democracy in early 80's -> levels of violence increased; Rio's homicide rate increased dramatically b/ween '79-'89
- Suffered chronic inflation -> foreign debt higher than any other developed nation
- High birth rate -> increased in migration of people into city from rural areas

Social 
• Brazil is part of the “developing world” and the largest country in Latin America, covering about half the continent. It is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of both land area and its population of about 163.7 million. An estimated 20 % of the population (32 million) live in absolute poverty. The disparity between those living below the poverty line (who receive 2% of the GDP) and the top 10% (who receive 50.6%) is greater than most other countries in the world. 
Historical 
• Brazil was colonised by Portugal in the 16th century resulting in almost genocidal subjection of the indigenous people. Struggled for independence, which was then gained in the 19th century. Economy partly founded on the transport of huge numbers of slaves from the west coast of Africa, a practise abolished in the second half of the 19th century. Their multi-ethnic communities are today made of the descendants of these slaves, together with immigrants from all over the world. 
Political 
• Economically dependent and dominated by the USA in the 20th century. In 2002, the year the film was made, ex-metalworker Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva was elected as President on his fourth attempt. Head of PT, the Worker’s Party, he led the first left-wing government to be in power for more than 40 years. He promised economic prosperity fairly distributed to all Brazilians. 
Technological 
• The use of digital editing allowed Daniel Rezende to experiment and try out new ideas. He claims that many of the interpretations of the characters were created at the editing stage. Different results could be obtained with the same footage “all the scenes evolved from the actor’s improvisations, and of course each one was unique.” 
Institutional 
• City of God was financed by TV Globo, Brazil’s biggest TV channel, and O2 Filmes, Brazil’s biggest commercials company. The international distributor was Miramax. Their involvement with the film was a continuation of successes they had with international and socalled independent films. Beginning as promoters of rock and roll concerts their reputation as “art film brats” was founded on their involvement with some of the most interesting and challenging films of the 1980s and early 1990s. 


Interview Notes:
- City of God tells the true story of the lives of children that grew up in the favelas over three decades (late 60's/70's/early 80's).
- Meirelles' connects the films multiple narratives - 'exposing an epic battlefield of urban corruption at the centre of one of the world's most populous cities'
- Influences: Tarantino's influence is all over City of God and the way the film is assembled resembles Goodfellas by Scorsese.
- The film was a massive hit worldwide which gave Meirellles a platform to focus the world's attention on the darkness of Rio's slums; a drastic change from the positive image the media used to present about Rio.
- Meirelles attempts to globalise the horrors of the favela's to make more people aware of what is occurring in Brazil.
Importance of book it's based on:
- The film is based off the book 'City of God' by Paulo Lins and was a semi-autobiographical novel published in 1997.
- Paulo was raised in the City of God and his boss asked him to write a novel about it whilst he was doing research for an anthropological work (relating to the study of mankind) about dealers in the favelas.
- It took Paulo 8 years to write the book and was a bestseller when published as it was very shocking for the people of Brazil as there was little knowledge of what exactly happened inside the favelas and COG provided an inside account into this lifestyle.
How Meirelles became involved in the project:- A friend of Meirelles gave him the book and recommended the book as amazing and he should shoot the film.
- Meirelles originally wasn't interested as he held a dislike for action films & knew little about drug dealers.
- After reading the book, Meirelles found the book 'amazing' and 'shocking' as the story seemed like it was taking place in another place and era to the Brazil where Meirelles lived.
- He decided to make the film as he wanted to understand and show that world & made the film thinking about Brazilian audiences - with little intention of the film becoming an international project.
Meirelles familiarity with favelas pre-production:

- Meirelles had a wide knowledge of favelas pre-production due to newspapers/tv/other films. However this information was from a middle-class point of view so was less detailed than reality as Meirelles only had information about favelas from his part of Brazil.
- The book was written about the favelas from the poorer part of Brazil so when Meirelles shot the film, he wanted to put the camera onto the other viewpoint and tell it through Paulo Lin's point of view and not the middle-class view Meirelles had grown up with.
Impact of City of God in Brazil:- Meirelles believes the film was a hit due to the debates it has provoked
- He has been to lots of universities/unions with the film and the president of Brazil [Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva] said to Meirelles that his film changed Lula's policies of public security which emphasises the major impact the film had on the lives of people in Brazil.
The current state of favelas:- Worse than the 80's (post time period of the film)
- Drug dealers control all the favelas; particularly in Rio
- Late 70's/early 80's: each favela had a guy like Lil Ze taking control of all territory in order to sell drugs and control everyone. In the 80's, these bosses began to control their neighbours and other areas as they wanted everything.
- By 200, Rio split between three criminal factions (Red Command, Friends of Friends which is ran by ex-policemen, Third Command) with all favelas belonging to one of these factions
Safety in production:- Meirelles didn't worry about safety & wasn't afraid of exposing police corruption
- The police were unaware that Meirelles was talking about their corruption until later.
- They weren't afraid to shoot inside these areas as they had permission from the community centres inside the favelas.
- It was a very relaxed shoot as they felt safe & knew nothing would happen but they never got a chance to talk directly to the drug dealers.

Involvement with Katia Lund:- Katia Lund is an American-Brazilian film director & screenwriter.
- Katia was finishing a documentary about drug dealers called 'News From a Private War' (which Meirelles described as 'amazing'), which presented that Katia knew a lot about this universe.
- Meirelles went to Rio and invited Lund to work with him to create a workshop for the boys that wanted to work as actors in the film.
- They worked really well together so Meirelles invited her to join the project as a co-director. Katia didn't take part in choosing locations/art direction/editing/talking to director of photography as she was mostly focused on the acting side of the film.
Themes of hopelessness & redemption in the film:- No hope for drug dealers as there is no escape so their lives will end with death.
- Rocket is the representation of hope in the film, he's a blend of Paulo Lins, and his friend Rocket who became a photographer.
Comparisons between COG & films such as Goodfellas & Pulp Fiction:

- Meirelles states Pulp Fiction is quite different from City of God due to Tarantino's use of violence as an amusement; something which is funny and spectacular. This juxtaposes City of God which presents violence as dangerous and not remotely funny in any sense; when you watch COG, 'you don't want to be part of these gangs'.
- A certain morality in City of God, Meirelles avoided showing violence on purpose everytime that he had the opportunity to show it and believes crime isn't glamorised in the film.
The Brazilian film community in 2003 & Meirelles post COG:- 5 to 6 features in the 80's per year, 45 features in 2002. Increase in enthusiasm.
- A new generation is coming out including: Berto Brechi ['The Intruder'], Andrucha Waddington [Me You Them] and Water Salles [The Motorcycle Diaries] which chronicles the life of Che Guevara.
- Meirelles received several Hollywood offers (around 30) due to COG's success but he didn't take any of them as he is involved with Intolerance: The Sequel which he planned to shoot in 2004 [but this didn't occur and he instead shot The Constant Gardener which he received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for Best Director].
- Meirelles financed City of God himself so he was unused to people telling him what to do so he had to learn how to relate to producers and studios.
'City of God is not only about a Brazilian issue, but one that involves the whole world. About societies which develop on the outskirts of our civilised world':
- When Meirelles travelled with the film throughout different festivals, journalists regularly asked how his society allows this to happen & why they don't take care of the problem.
- No matter what happens in the other side of Brazil, it doesn't affect middle-class Brazil so this allows things to get to this point as they don't believe the problem of the other side of Brazil involves them. Lots of people go without food & everyone think it isn't their problem which isn't true as it's a worldwide problem, especially since all economies are so related.
- 'No country is unfair as the world itself'.

City of God in comparison to other Brazilian films:

Pixote:

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 & take 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:

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.

Mise-En-Scene Essay Plan:

P1: COG – Deaths

One film that uses mise-en-scene to create meaning is COG, directed by Fernando Meirelles, a Brazilian film that depicts the growth of organised crime in Brazi.

One way mise-en-scene creates meaning is through the deaths that occur in the film: shows lack of value of life in COG

FE in Shaggy’s death: people crowded around him/staring at him/not helping -> lack of value of life. Emphasised by photographer = more interest in publicity/wealth>respectfulness

Shooting of Bene, shows how life can be taken away when at highest point -> shown through MES as guns show how easy death can occur in COG, how happy moment of party can turn to tragedy. The graffiti on the walls also empathise the unkept environment and that the story takes place in an area suffering from poverty -> creates meaning for why they go through this violent livelihood.

MES also creates meaning through Lil Ze’s death; car crash shows literally car crashing + also juxtaposes Lil Ze’s reign crumbling + loss of control of favela. Image shown to audience creates meaning as car displays wreckage that they’ve seen occur in the favela throughout the film.

P2; COG – Foreboding in deaths

Meirelles also uses mise-en-scene to create meaning by using foreboding in the death scenes.

Shaggy’s death: shot of car failing to start forebodes something tragic going to occur, creates meaning as displays to audience that the failure of escaping gang life will result in death so makes empathise with Shaggy + failure of car starting hooks an intrigued audience in.

Bene’s death: foreshadows the later importance of the camera as last thing Bene did before dying was give camera away. MES of prop creates meaning 4 audience as wonder what significance of camera is.

Lil Ze’s death: foreboded by the use of props; gives guns to runts who eventually kills him. Creates meaning as displays everything goes full circle in COG. Also creates meaning 4 audience as makes them feel sad that this is reality of life in COG and the violent nature of the kids just gets younger due to being exposed 2 more violence = new generation take over old generation. Also nearly everyone has gun in final scene, emphasises meaning 4 audience as shocked how violent city has become + saddened how a deadly weapon now = power/authority

P3: COG - Imagery of guns

Meirelles uses guns in the frame throughout many pivotal scenes to

create meaning as shows emphasis on violence in COG + how this prop is in their lifestyle from young age

- story of tender trio: foreshadows violence to come, juxtaposes image of innocent children playing football to dangerous crimes/image of city. Introduced early in film to create meaning 4 audience that crime is occurring around ppl of all ages.

- Lil Ze shooting his victims, all that is visible in the frame is his face + the gun-> audience focused on his reactions. MES Creates meaning as makes Lil Ze menacing -> facial expressions show enjoys killing

- In scene where LZ shoots two kids, Lil Ze has gun + in bright clothes & chains = creates meaning as affluence earned from gang violence which makes audience angered they have to grow up in violent atmosphere as this is what they become= also creates meaning as adds air of superiosity, imposing to LZ character.

- Runts sat in circle like a 'gang' -> rough nature imposed on inhabitants from young age. Adult conversations, breaks conventions of traditional childhood/enjoy dangerous lifestyle

- picture of gang for newspaper with guns-> makes seem threatening to audience. Camera represents LZ lust for violence/control. Rocket's ambition/dream -> creates meaning for audience as Meirelles uses MES to display how a prop can have multiple meanings 4 different ppl & shows the two extremes in COG: survival by power & survival by anonymity