City of God

Style, rather than substance, marks this Oscar-nominated film from director Fernando Meirelles, a Brazilian thriller that employs every virtuoso flourish in the playbook--sudden zooms, lightning-quick pans, overlaps, freeze frames, abrupt cuts, slow motion episodes, artsy dissolves--to keep the viewer's adrenaline rushing. Chronicling the crazed, reckless conduct of the throwaway kids of the Rio slums drawn into a life of crime and violence, City of God, adapted from a novel that was in turn based on actual events, spans a couple of decades in the lives of two childhood acquaintances--one a cagey, brutal tyke who mercilessly works his way up the ladder to become a gang leader, and the other a quiet, unassuming lad who becomes a photographer. Around them are a small army of secondary figures--drug dealers, hangers-on, victims, and rival gang members (sometimes shown so briefly that the filmmaker uses flashbacks to reintroduce characters later on). The result, played at whiplash velocity, is rather like the whole Godfather saga compressed into a single two-hour span. Ultimately, the canvas is so large, however, that it's difficult to keep the various people in focus, let alone develop any emotional connection with them. Still, City of God carries considerable punch, albeit more because of its look than its content. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include director Katia Lund's partially-subtitled, nudity- and gun-filled 56-minute documentary News from a Personal War on Rio's drug war, a soundtrack spot, and trailers. Bottom line: the solid background-establishing documentary helps illuminate this Oscar-nominated film.] (F. Swietek)