'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.

Comments on ' The 400 Blows'

This film aimed to show power and poverty within an urban Paris environment. I enjoyed the open sequence of the Eiffel Tower and other Paris landscapes as I thought it was going to be an introduction to contrast in people that can be seen walking on the streets. Tracking shots were also used frequently in the classroom and house setting - this represented the fact that there would be something significant about the young child. Cinematography-wise, the film deserves mass praise, making use of digetic and non-digetic sound and fading to black between scenes, creating a sense of 'same old, same old' on young Antonie's life.

We can clearly see that Antonie has a poor, lower-class family. This is indicated by there small-spaced house, his constant re-wearing of clothes and scruffy hair and the fact that all income went towards a treat for the family every once in a while. We know that his parents neglect him and cannot stand his actions anymore, to the point where they discuss sending him to an oprhanage. Society also has no care towards him - he walks through the Paris streets in broad daylight, with thousands of people around him,completely un-subtle, and no one bothers to even ask why he is carrying a heavy typewriter.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be a lack of a definite plot to this film and I thought many scenes within the film's 99 minutes appeared to have no sense of direction, making the film seem to last much longer in duration and decreased my enjoyment of it. The cinematography captured the deprived, urban setting very well, and this was shown very well in Antonie's character as well. with parents that didn't mention his own name once when talking about him and concluding that he cannot be dealt with by them. I felt that these needed a plot direction in order to make the film bearable.

Catalogue enteries

Item 5: Under My Skin (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2007/apr/21/culture.features)

Interview from the guardian newspaper website with Shane Meadows, reflecting on growing in the 1980’s. Very useful as Meadows mentions how much of ‘This Is England’ is based on his own childhood and he describes the formation of the skin-head subculture, why it was targeted by the Nation Front movement and how he created some of his characters to show this.

Item 7: BBC Radio 4 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/backrow/backrow_20020907.shtml)

Audio interview with Shane Meadows Around the release of the film. Useful as Meadows briefly mentions the wide range of people that can be found in the Midlands.

An analysis of conflict in 'La Haine'

Representation
Diversity is widely explored in the small suburb setting as the film's three central characters all have different backgrounds and ethnic origins. Vinz, who wants to have leading power in the group, is Jewish. Saïd, who is like a little brother who needs to be taken care of, is Arabic. Hubert, a peaceful boxer in control of his emotions, is black. Because of this, a form of a unity is created against the racist and violent police forces - the characters know that on the estate, they have to close together to survive. The media also does them no favors, with television reports portraying young people as violent and aggressive characters. During a scene where a television reporter asks to interview the main characters and their gang, they become angry at the media's assumptions that they are violent, and act up out of spite.

Narrative
The film opens with archive footage of riot scenes. We are instantly introduced to the setting of the film - the aftermath of a riot in the French suburbs. We are also kept aware of the time of day quite frequently. Throughout the film, the screen changes every so often, displaying nothing but the time in a large font. This also alerts us that the events in the film all take place in one day. Another interesting factor is the news report that occurs as the riot scenes come to an end. More of the narrative and background to the story is is revealed here. A young man named Abdel is in hospital in a critical condition following beatings from a police officer. It is this character that maps out the events for the central characters, as he is a close friend of theirs.

Cinematography
A bird's eye view of the entire estate is given when the DJ plays his music from his apartment. For this shot, a camera was attached to a remote control helicopter, which looks down on the entire estate, showing everything that the characters have to live with. Because of this, the camera is shaky, but the director commented that this was a good thing as it creates a more realistic outlook. Also, the use of wide-angle lenses creates a very a dramatic effect, especially when the bouncers are shot by Vinz's friends. Although he has his back turned to the action, we can still see his re-action to the violence. The use of focus is another important feature. Throughout this film, focus is shifted from one character to another by the use of sound, rather than action (the final scene when the car pulls up and Hubert is walking away). The affect in display here is to make us think that the dialogue is more important, compared to what happens around the characters.