City of God
At last year's Oscars, much ink was spilled about the Academy not giving "City of God" a foreign film nod. Recognization however would come one year later with 4 Academy Award nominations, including best director for Fernando Meirelles. So I finally got a chance to see it last weekend and I was amazed.

Set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, we follow the events happening around Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) growing up. His brother Shaggy (Johnathan Haggensen) is part of the Tender Trio, a gangster group which holds up gas trucks and other things. After a bloody hotel robbery and Shaggy flees the slum life, ultimately killed, we fast forward to Rocket's teenage life. His tastes have grown to include photography, drugs and women, especially Angelica (Alice Braga), seemingly the only love in his life. But the slums have grown up too, maybe too quickly. Cocaine is the name of the game in the slums and two rival gangs are battling for domination led by Carrot (Matheus Nachtergaele) and Lil' Ze (Firmino da Hora). When the peacemaker, Benny (Phelipe Haagensen), is shot dead, all hell breaks loose with kids given guns to join the fight and Rocket caught in the middle, documenting the whole thing with his camera for the newspaper.

This is a sight to see, simply because it is unrelenting. Unrelenting by the quick pace of action. Unrelenting in the level of cold-blooded gunplay seen by people who could be considered toddlers. And unrelenting in the level of heart it portrays. It plays itself off as a very true film. Even in a sea of violence, personalities stand out like Rocket's and Benny's that show good people can come out of this town fearless of the brutal leaders that control it. Meirelles does his best in documenting this trueness with some gritty camerawork and scenes that, like a gun firing, shoot at you at bullet speeds and hits with its huge impact. 4 stars