Cidade dos Homens (City of Men)

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Cidade dos Homens (City of Men)

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Cidade dos Homens (City of Men)

Camila Monteiro, Darlan Cunha, Douglas Silva, Eduardo Piranha, Jonathan Haagensen, Luciano Vidigal, Naima Silva, Pedro Henrique, Rodrigo dos Santos

Best buddies Acerola and Laranjinha, about to turn 18, discover things about their missing fathers' pasts which will shatter their solid friendship, in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs fro...( read more  read more... )m Rio's favelas.

Id: 10887994

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Cidade dos Homens (City of Men) Recent Reviews
  • phubbs1
    March 7, 2009
    phubbs1
    To be honest I was let down with this, after the harrowing, depressing kill fest of the original this is actually pretty tame. Not much killing and not much action either, there's alot of talk and plot layout which is fine but you do find your mind starting to wander haha
    The cas...( read more)t are all excellent along with the locations and sweaty, grimy, run down look of the whole film, its so realistic it puts you off wanting to go anywhere near Brazil for a holiday ;)
    Some of the scenery is truely amazing though.

    Overall its quite boring until the final sequence but even that is average, and then its over all too quick. Not a bad film but not really engaging either.
  • habitualdamnation
    December 8, 2008
    habitualdamnation
    A better (and cleaner) story than Cidade Deus yet not as rewardin. Maybe I'm just shallow. Ha
  • gor41
    October 10, 2008
    gor41
    Episodic collection of tales which offer a fascinating further insight into favela life in the vain of 'City of God'. Runs out of original plots in the later episodes but there are some clever gems.
  • DrZeek
    September 11, 2008
    DrZeek
    Ace: Now there are just the two of us.

    Following the success of the brilliant film, City of God, a spinoff TV show was created in Brazil, which ran for four seasons. This film follows the same main characters from the show to give audiences a new story set in the modern day Rio ...( read more)slums.

    The story revolves around Wallace and Ace, two lifelong friends, both living in the slums, getting by. Both are about to turn 18 and fatherless. Ace is a young husband and father and Wallace is the nephew of a local gang leader.

    One plot strand revolves around Wallace finding his father and developing a relation with him, as well as learning about his past. Another deals with incidents that create issue between the two best friends. This is mainly due to a gang war that erupts and splits the town apart.

    Going in to this, it was easy for me to know that this film would not match the brilliance that is City of God. However, this is still a well made and effective film. While City of God worked its way through a few decades, kept in line by its rapid pace, strong acting and visual style, great soundtrack, and overall kinetic spark that gave great life to the film, City of Men works more as a straight forward narration that still benefits from a good visual sense and strong performances.

    The film is not as much about portraying the kinds of issues that have plagued this area of Rio or showing the various characters and the numerous connections they have to the city. The film is much more a drama as well, while City of God was able to inject a good amount of humor and energy throughout, this film certainly dwells in its darkness.

    These things do not make it a bad film, it certainly does the job, it just isn't as fresh and certainly sits in the zone of comparison to the original film.

    Well done film, but lacks a spark.

    Ace: [he and Wallace are holding Clayton's hand] Clayton, don't worry 'cause I'm gonna teach you all I know. Let's cross.
    Wallace: Okay.
    Ace: Clayton, before you cross the street, you have to look both ways. First this way, then that way. Let's go.
  • EarthlyAlien
    August 30, 2008
    EarthlyAlien
    Acerola: [he and Laranjinha are holding Clayton's hand] "Clayton, don't worry 'cause I'm gonna teach you all I know. Let's cross.
    Laranjinha: Okay.
    Acerola: Clayton, before you cross the street, you have to look both ways. First this way, then that way. Let's go....( read more)"

    Photobucket

    It has been estimated that 19% of the population of Rio de Janeiro live in favelas, shacks crowded onto hillsides not far from luxurious apartments and world famous beach resorts. Notorious breeding grounds for poverty, drug addiction, and gang warfare, the favelas, with their picturesque street names like "Dead End Hill," have for decades been the subject of critically acclaimed films such as Hector Babenco's Pixote and, of course, Fernando Meirelles' City of God.

    Based on a series that ran on Brazilian TV Globo between 2002 and 2005, written and directed by several Brazilian filmmakers - including Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund, Jorge Furtado, Cao Hamburger and Paulo Morelli - and watched by 35 million viewers, Morelli's (who wrote the most episodes for the show) City of Men is a follow-up - not a sequel - to the more flashy Meirelles film. While it lacks the earlier work's frenetic energy, it is more emotionally satisfying and has characters that we care about - 'we' obviously meaning anyone who has seen the show.

    The film focuses on two friends, both turning 18 and without fathers. The two boys, Acerola and Laranjinha, (given Americanized names Ace and Wallace in English subtitles - for non-Portuguese speaking people) have unresolved father issues. Laranjinha is trying to locate the father he never knew and Acerola wants to find out how and why his father was killed. Acerola, though only 18, lives with his girlfriend Cris (Camila Monteiro) in one of the famous favelas and is already a father - of the young Clayton (Vinicius Oliveira). Acerola is immature enough to leave Clayton alone on the beach in an early sequence, but must grow up quickly and assume complete responsibility for Clayton's care when Cris takes a job in São Paulo.

    Actors Douglas Silva (who played the pint-sized psychopath Li'l Dice in City of God) and Darlan Cunha (who played Steak-and-Fries, the kid who wields the gun in Meirelles' masterpiece's most notorious scene) both appeared in the TV series, and footage from the show is used for flashbacks during the film, presented in a faded colour palette. Both Silva and Cunha are natural actors who've known each other since they were ten years old and it shows: it never feels like they're acting.

    Shot by cinematographer Adriano Goldman, who provides sweeping panoramas of the hills, mountains, and beaches, the film begins on the top of "Dead End Hill" on a day so brutally hot we can feel the sweat gathering on our foreheads. Gang members with handguns and automatic weapons led by Midnight (Jonathan Haagensen) decide to head down to the beach, establishing a perimeter of guards who tell the cops that they are on route. The emotional centre of the film is the relationship between Laranjinha and his newly discovered father Heraldo, played with strength and dignity by Rodrigo dos Santos. Heraldo is out on parole after having served fifteen years of a twenty year sentence for robbery and murder. The circumstances of the murder that he committed becomes a central issue in the relationship between Acerola and Laranjinha and secrets about both of their fathers' pasts threaten their friendship and lead to their involvement on different sides of a new eruption of gang violence.

    Somewhat melodramatic but never manipulative or false, City of Men transcends the familiar format of hand-held camera hyperactivity and gangster clichés to become a tender and deeply affecting story about abandoned children and how the cycle is repeated from one generation to the next. While the film explodes into warfare between rival gangs led by Midnight and 'Fasto (Eduardo 'BR' Piranha), it is devoid of the usual stylized and frenetic violence. Acerola and Laranjinha are characters we get to know and identify with. We want them to defy the odds and survive until adulthood, though the tragic history of life in the Rio slums is never far from our mind. A fine, more-than-decent companion piece to one of the greatest films ever made.
  • Hallez
    November 4, 2009
    Hallez
    A series that follows two brazillian boys and looks at some of the antics that they get up to in order to survive the harsh environment of the slum life.
  • rylanjp
    October 6, 2009
    rylanjp
    Kind of boring... What a real let down. City of God is one of my favourite films was excited to see the follow up, what went wrong?
  • myfavchords
    October 5, 2009
    myfavchords
    Even though this film is not as good as City of God, it is still a great film. Another interesting story and two great lead characters. Definitely check this film out.
  • yuuka
    September 23, 2009
    yuuka
    Like City of God, the camera work, film editing, story, pacing and acting were all tops but this time, it`s a less wholistic view of the situation and more a look at the specific emotions of two boys who are turning 18 while living in the same crime-ridden turf war scene.

    The...( read more)y try their best not to meddle or take sides even while having friends who are part of the gangs and learn about their fathers. I liked this a bit more than City of God even though it wasn`t as gripping or powerful action-wise because it was about family, friendship and forgiveness even when everything around them rejects that.

    There is a side plot about two gangs fighting to take a Hill and their young friend who has been a tough and determined gang member throughout the movie. At the end of that battle, it was very emotionally realistic when he had to decide whether to do what Wallace and Ace did, or do what he had always talked about before jumping into the gang.
  • captainsoso
    August 17, 2009
    captainsoso
    A great but a disappointing sequel
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