Cidade de Deus

English title: City of God

Genre: crime drama  

Director: Fernando Meirelles (with Kátia Lund, co-director) 

Release: 2003

Studio: Miramax

Rating: 16

MBiS score: 8.4/10

New Kids on the Crime Block

With the help of Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), an amiable young man serving as our narrator, Cidade de Deus takes us through two decades of real-life crime stories in a notorious shantytown on the outskirts of Rio. In that slum, from the 1960s to the 80s, thuggery was often the only alternative for young men deprived of any valid prospects. With Alice Braga (Angélica). 

For me, watching CIDADE DE DEUS wasn’t a free ride. I was disappointed at first because it’s predominantly a violent film – the poster makes it look like class trips and romance at Copacabana beach – then I caught on gradually and I was truly conquered in the last act. Sum total, CIDADE DE DEUS is a strong, compelling motion picture.

This vibrant film depicts the young hoodlums and traffickers who ruled over the City of God, beginning with Rocket’s brother Goose and two friends, Shaggy and Clipper – nicknamed the "Tender Trio" – who earned their reputation during an audacious holdup in a local motel. Other young dealers will follow, among them Benny (Phelipe Haagensen), Carrot (Matheus Nachtergaele) and Lil Zé (Leandro Firmino de Hora), a sworn enemy of Knockout Ned (Seu Jorge), himself a hero of the slum. There’s lots of action in CIDADE DE DEUS and some of it is genuinely harrowing (the tragic story of Tiago the cocaine addict and those gun-toting children especially).

The movie’s other strong points are its nimble and efficient direction by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund (at times I found it unimaginably good) and Bráulio Mantovani’s complex and suspenseful screenplay (based on a novel by Paulo Lins). The story contains multiple flashbacks and tie-ins that ultimately provide a gripping panorama of Brazilian juvenile delinquency; its powerful ending answers questions that were left dangling before. Cast members are uniformly excellent and production values are solid.

I won’t comment further… you’ve already got the picture. CIDADE DE DEUS is a vast portrait of young people on the wrong side of the tracks, a "school of crime" if you will and a fitting companion film to Martin Scorsese’s GOODFELLAS.   

MBiS

© 2014 – All rights reserved

Casablanca

Genre: intrigue – romance 

With: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid

Director: Michael Curtiz

Release: 1941 (black and white)

Studio: Warner Bros.

Rating: G

MBiS score: 8.8/10

QuickView

Story-line: in wartime Morocco, an American bar owner gets himself in a mess of conspiracy and romance.

Pluses: Bogart’s deadpan delivery, Bergman’s radiant screen presence, memorable dialogues, a splendid cast of shady characters and, of course, Dooley Wilson singing "As Time Goes By".

Minuses: none whatsoever.

Comments: CASABLANCA, still one of Hollywood’s best offerings to the world, is a monumental film. According to movie lore, the ending had not yet been decided when shooting began… but a home run it certainly is. "Here's looking at you, kid."     

MBiS

© 2014 – All rights reserved

Enfant sauvage (L')

  

English title: The Wild Child

Genre: behavioural drama 

Director: François Truffaut

Release: 1969

Studio: Les Artistes Associés, Les Films du Carrosse et al.

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.7/10

This is civilization, son, whether you like it or not

In 1798, a woman gathering plants in a French forest runs for her life when she comes face to face with a wild, naked boy (Jean-Pierre Cargol). Locals organize a search, the boy is captured. When reports of this strange happening reach the French capital, men of science express interest in the young savage. With François Truffaut (Doctor Itard), Jean Dasté (Professor Pinel) and Françoise Seigner (Mrs. Guérin).

L’ENFANT SAUVAGE, a black and white film based on historical archives (Itard’s reports on the Aveyron savage), is one of the oddest and most astounding spectacles you’ll ever see. It seems otherworldly, somewhat like THE ELEPHANT MAN, and has the distinct feel of a scientific documentary. Once the young savage arrives in Paris, Itard will undertake his education; unlike Pinel, he is convinced that the boy can become ‘Victor’, a socially-adapted young man. That’s how the story goes… and a compelling one it is in spite of its coldness.

To be successful, Truffaut’s film needed strong leads and what it got was miraculous. Jean-Pierre Cargol’s performance is almost unbelievable when you consider he had to go against nature and play a beast whose reactions are singularly unhuman. Truffaut also nails it as the scientist and strict disciplinarian; in his other role behind the camera, he has kept his movie sober, fluid and tight, limiting himself to the clinical comments authored by Itard.

Recently, the New York Times ran an article stating that moviegoers are balking at current Hollywood fare. L’ENFANT SAUVAGE may be an old foreign film but it’s one of those extraordinary works that will make you fall in love with the movies all over again. If you decide to see it, I have one big favour to ask of you. Since Truffaut and Jean Gruault have not provided their scenario with a definitive ending, don’t research Victor’s story on the Internet or elsewhere until you’ve seen the movie. That way, the end result of Itard’s efforts will surprise you even more.

MBiS

© 2014 – All rights reserved