A comparison of the treatment of power, poverty and conflict in ‘A Prophet’ and ‘City of God’

The story of ‘City of God’ is told entirely from the perspective of Rocket, a young boy who dreams of becoming a photographer. His voice is the narrative that gives the audience an explanation as to who the people around him are and what is happening in society. ‘A Prophet’, however, isn’t told from anyone’s perspective and simply follows the progression of the character Malik as he starts a six-year prison sentence. He enters prison alone, not knowing anyone but is contracted by Ceaser, the Corsican kingpin who rules what happens in the prison. Ceaser tells Malik that he must kill Reyab, an Arabic prison inmate, or be killed himself by Ceaser’s forces. We see Malik develop from a prisoner forced to work with the Corsicans and regretfully kill Reyab so that he can be ‘protected’, to an independent criminal mastermind, committing crimes on his own terms. This form of development can also be found in ‘City of God’ within the character of Lil’ Ze, who we first see as an innocent young boy having his first taste of murder and eventually becoming the leader of the gang who control the streets and provokes fear in everyone around him. The key thing to note however, is that Malik didn’t want to kill Reyab - He had no other choice, it was either kill or be killed, whereas Lil’ Ze’ enjoyed his early killings in the brothel and had the option of weather he wanted to do it or not.

A big similarly between the two films is that both settings (a Brecourt prison in ‘A Prophet’, the slums of Rio De Janerio in ‘City of God’) have a powerful, fear-provoking force that hangs over them and keeps watch -Caesar and the Corsicans in ‘A Prophet’ who instantly trap Malik into doing something that he doesn’t want to do, and Lil’ Ze and his drug-running gang who take part in the gang warfare that fills the streets in ‘City of God’. Also, at the end of each film, we see both of these forces crumble and fall apart - in ‘City of God’ this occurs when Lil’ Ze is shot dead by the Runts, whereas in ‘A Prophet’ we see Caesar’s power gradually slip away throughout the film as Malik becomes more independent and less reliable on him, which causes Caesar much frustration - he is desperate to have power. His demise is truly signified during a scene where he attempts to walk over the Malik, but is knocked to the ground by the Muslims who Malik has independently allied with. Caesar’s fearful reign ends, but the Muslim’s begins, which creates a cycle of terror. Something similar occurs in ‘City of God’ - even though Lil’ Ze is now dead, it is The Runts who take over the streets and again we are imposed with a question - will the terror ever end?

There are also some differences in the narrative in both films. In ‘A Prophet’ the story focuses entirely on Malik’s time in prison, giving little information on any other characters and their backgrounds. ‘City of God’ is very contrasting because even though the narrative is told entirely through Rocket’s eyes, throughout the film he pauses the story in order to tell another small story of other characters, such as Lil’ Ze and Knockout Ned, sharing how their story and background is relevant to the leading story. The story moves through the decades of the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s and constantly reversers time to tell another story, such as when Lil’ Ze discovers his love of killing, whereas ‘A Prophet’ pushes through Malik’s time spent in prison, time is never shifted backwards.

The films share a very noticeable theme - corruption. The characters are surrounded by ugly compromises; they have to do things that they don’t want to do in order to live. In ‘A Prophet’ Malik is faced with an awful decision as soon as he enters prison - Cesar tells him that if he wants to be protected, he must kill an Arabic prisoner named Reyab, or be killed himself by the Corsicans. There is a similar scene in ‘City of God’ where Lil’ Ze forces Steak to shoot one of the two Runts that they have captured in order to join their ranks. It appears that both Malik and Steak don’t really have much of a choice - they have to do something that they’ll regret for the rest of their life in order to get what they want. For Malik, this is survival, but for Steak, it is to be considered part of the Gang by Lil’ Ze. Both films also display a huge social divide - in the prison of ‘A Prophet’ the tension between the Muslims, Corsicans and Arabics is clear because the Muslims talk to no one but themselves while the Corsicans think of Malik as nothing other than a ‘dirty Arab’, which is also a sign of racial tension. In ‘City of God’, however, the social divide is indicated by the gang warfare that patrols the streets, and Lil’ Ze wants all other gangs wiped out so that he can be the best. Lil’ Ze wants nothing but power. The same applies for Caesar in ‘A Prophet’, who becomes infuriated when he sees his power slipping away in front of him. This is most evident when he attacks Malik, forcing a spoon into his eye because he is angry that Malik no longer fears him.

There is another similar narrative feature - the events in both of the films are set over a progressive timeline. In ‘A Prophet’ this is the six years that Malik spends in prison, whereas in ‘City of God’ the story is spread across three decades. Also, throughout both films, titles appear on screen to identify characters and objectives - in ‘City of God’ these are accompanied with a freeze frame and Rocket’s voice-over giving a brief explanation of who they are/what is happening, whereas in ‘A Prophet’ the narrative is not interrupted at these points.