'City of God' comments on power, poverty and confilct

What is the film saying about the society it depicts? is there a moral message?
The narrative of the film, told heavily through the eyes of 'Rocket', right from his days as a child to becoming a young adult, show the City of God (Rio De Jenerio) to be a city crawling with gang warfare and danger. From the 'Tender Trio' to the takeover by Lil 'Ze, and finally the Runts, the business of a city patrolled by drug lords and gunfire hangs over the city throughout the film. However, at one pint during the film, someone suggests that to part of a gang, you need 'more than a gun', you need to have 'ideas' to be accepted as part of a gang, which indicates that showing off your killing skills isn't enough to be accepted - you have to be able to find a reason as well. Tough initiations to be a part of a gang, indicating that not just 'anyone' can join in.

Does it have a documentary style or does the cinematography reference another film from another genre?
The story of the film is told heavily on the experiences of 'Rocket' who we first see as a young boy and finally a young adult. It is as if he is reflecting on his time spent around the city. As such, the narrative is often interrupted by Rocket whenever a new character appears on screen. Rocket briefly introduces them, but first says that their story is not yet ready to be told. In this fashion, he is inter-linking a range of different sub-plots. In a sense, the film could probably be narrated as if it were a documentary, as Rocket is giving us an explanation of how the heavy drug trade is operated and by giving us an in-sight to the gang warfare actions.

Was there any controversy when it was released?
At the time of release, the film gained the attention of nay of Brazil's key figures. The then president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, was urged to watch the film, in order to 'understand the extent of the urban tragedy in Brazil'. Arnaldo Jabor, an intellectual from Brazil, commented that 'City of God' is "not only a film" but an "important fact. A crucial statement" and "a hole" in the national consiecne of Brazil. Director Walter Salles commented that there are over 40,000 violent deaths in Brazil that take place each year, and the deaths in urban areas are often caused by drug gang confrontations, dealers and the police. The director had planned 'City of God' to explain how Brazil ended up in this state.

The Director explores how the drug trade developed in the city throughout the years, from the families seeking refuge in the slums of Rio De Janerio in the 1960's to changes caused in the 70's/80's by the arrival of the first large-scale drug dealers, creating their own forms of justice. Cocaine became the drug of choice and dealers were able to recruit young children into dealing, widening their control over the slums. the arrival of even more machine guns increased the national death toll.

How are social and polotical themes explored in the films of Shane Meadows

My focus films are 'This is England', 'Somers Town' and 'Once Upon A Time in the Midlands'. 'This is England' will be my main focus film as the characters are directly affected by the political and social climates of the time period (Summer 1983) e.g. the Falklands War, the National Front rise, skinhead and nu-wave sub-cultures ect. 'Somers Town' was chosen as it is a study of the social environment of the Somers Town are of London, and with the new developments in transport in recent years, St.Pancras/King's Cross station is going under heavy re-development. A Polish character, Mariuz find work in this field. The appearance of English, French and Polish characters also shows a wide range of characteristics in the London setting. My final film, 'Once Upon A Time in the Midlands' is a mirror to the spaghetti western films, but is set in Nottingham, East Midlands (the wild west of Great Britain). There are a strong array of accents in the key characters (Scouse, Scottish, Welsh and Cockney) and this is subject to question weather Meadows is being relevant to his Midlands setting.

Meadows is clearly aware of all of the social environments he creates, basing the settings on his own experience of the areas and times he films in. 'This Is England' shows political accuracy and how this effects individuals. 'Somers Town' shows the wide range of nataionalites that can be found in London.

More catalouge enteries

Item 14: ‘Sight and Sound’ - September 2008

Review of the film ('Somers Town') around the release period. Very useful as this pinpoints some of the main social and cultural issues that are being addressed in the film, such as the heavy re-development in transport between King’ Cross and Euston stations and how Mariusz is employed under this. Details references to the 1960’s in the character of Marek - ‘slow, mumblemouthed with a camera (very 60’s)’ and 1950’s kitchen sinkism, which will help me to further my research topics.

Item 10: ‘Dedicated followers of fascism’

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/apr/13/2)

Article from the Guardian newspaper website where journalist Sarfraz Manzoor reflects on his views of the skinhead sub-culture of the 1980’s and how this affected him. This is very useful as it shows what emotions ‘This Is England’ can provoke in its audiences - Manzoor discusses his fear of Skinheads because of there association with the National Front and how ‘This Is England’ caused him to ponder his thoughts on his childhood.

Item 13: ‘Sight and Sound’ - July 2002

Article entitled ‘Cannes 2002, Rich and Strange’ where there are a large number of reviews from the Cannes film festival 2002, where ‘Once Upon A Time in the Midlands’ is hailed as ‘Serio-comic studies of East Midlands manners and mores’. A bit of a brief comment, but it is useful to see how different reviewers capture and view the cultural elements of the Midlands from this experience.

Item 9: Kitchen-sink drama

(http://changingminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/plots/classic/kitchen-sink.htm)

Webpage offering an outlook on what makes a kitchen-sink drama. I researched this topic after reading the ‘Sight and Sound’ review of ‘Somers Town’ from September 2008. This was useful as I learned that kitchen-sink drama often presents conflict and social deprivation - two key themes of the characters in ‘Somers Town’, and I can now consider this when next viewing the film.

Comparing city settings

How is the city a defining presence in 'La Haine' and 'London to Brighton'?

In both of these films, the audience are given a sense of time to when the events are taking place. However, this is indicated more frequently in 'La Haine' as every so often, the screen turns black and nothing but the time is displayed in a clear white font. Whereas 'London to Brighton' this type of thing only occurs once at the very start of the film, where we are told that is '3:07AM'. However, both films are set over a 24 hour period and the events follow on from what has happened in the past - in 'La Haine' this involves the rioting on the streets from the night before, which left Abdel, a friend of Saïd, Hubert and Vinz, badly injured and in hospital in a critical condition. in 'London to Brighton', the events instantly follow on from what is later revealed to be Duncan Allen, a twisted man who has a taste for young girls, is left bleeding to death and soon dies. The difference, however, is that Hubert, Saïd and Vinz embark on their journey simply to pass time, but in 'London to Brighton' Joanne and Kelly embark on theirs as a means of escaping from danger - the danger of being caught be Derek and taken to Stuart.

In both films, the city presents an over-hanging element of desperation with drones upon the characters. In 'London to Brighton' this is shown by Kelley's plans on getting money so that she can get Joanne to safety - through prostitution with the nearest curb-crawler that she can find. In in 'La Haine' the desperation is just as rough and brutal as Vinz dreams of shooting a police man dead so that he prove to everyone else that he is ready for a high, fearful gangsta status. We are also made aware that both cities in which the films are set are of a grim, vile nature - 'La Haine' with it's police brutality that dominates the Paris suburbs which could break out any second upon the local youths, and 'London to Brighton' with the a high amount of prostitution and curb-crawlers on the London streets, and Stuart Allen even describes it as a 'shithole' being full of 'scum'. Nevertheless, some of the key landmarks from both cities make appearances in the films (the Eiffel tower in 'La Haine' and Waterloo station and Piccadilly Circus in 'London to Brighton) showing that while both cities have iconic landscapes that people will forever associate with them, it is possible to zoom in on the smaller, cozier areas inside a large a space, this being the Suburban estate and parks in 'La Haine' and the number of small restaurants and apartments of 'London to Brighton'.

Something else that is established in both films is the large range of characters that can be found in big cities, and how unlikely relationships can be formed. In 'La Haine' this occurs between Saïd, who is Arabic, Vinz, who is of Jewish descent and Hubert, an Afro-French character - three very different cultural backgrounds who form a sibling-like relationship because they are bounded by a common enemy - the police. Because of this, they look out for each other, as if they are 'brothers'. A sibling-like relationship is also formed between Kelly, a prostitute in her 20's, and Joanne, a 12-year-old runaway, who is discovered by Kelly when she is begging outside Waterloo station. Instantly she is warm-heated towards her, initially so that she can be used with Duncan Allen's sexual desires, but later on in the film it is the escape to Brighton that brings them closer together, with Kelly often making sure that she will okay and entertained while she earns money through prostitution. It is her mission to get her to safety and away from Stuart and Derek, much like the characters of 'La Haine' must lookout for each other against the police brutality.