City of God (2002 film)

City of God
Brazilian theatrical release poster
Brazilian PortugueseCidade de Deus
Directed by
Screenplay byBráulio Mantovani
Based onCity of God
by Paulo Lins
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyCésar Charlone
Edited byDaniel Rezende
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 18 May 2002 (2002-05-18) (Cannes)
  • 30 August 2002 (2002-08-30) (Brazil)
  • 17 January 2003 (2003-01-17) (United States)
  • 12 March 2003 (2003-03-12) (France)
  • 8 May 2003 (2003-05-08) (Germany)
Running time
130 minutes
Countries
LanguagePortuguese
Budget$3.3 million[6]
Box office$30.6 million[7]

City of God (Portuguese: Cidade de Deus) is a 2002 Brazilian epic crime film directed by Fernando Meirelles. Bráulio Mantovani's script is adapted from the 1997 novel written by Paulo Lins, but the plot is also loosely based on real events. It depicts the growth of organized crime in the Cidade de Deus suburb of Rio de Janeiro, between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1980s, with the film's closure depicting the war between the drug dealer Li'l Zé and vigilante-turned-criminal Knockout Ned. The tagline is "If you run, the beast catches you; if you stay, the beast eats you."

The cast includes Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Jonathan and Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Daniel Zettel, and Seu Jorge. Most of the actors were, in fact, residents of favelas such as Vidigal and the Cidade de Deus itself.

City of God received widespread critical acclaim and garnered four nominations at the 76th Academy Awards; Best Cinematography (César Charlone), Best Director (Meirelles), Best Film Editing (Daniel Rezende), and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Mantovani). In 2003, it was Brazil's entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but it did not end up being nominated as one of the five finalists. It is frequently listed by many critics and audiences as one of the greatest films of the 21st century and one of the best films of all-time. In 2015, the Brazilian Film Critics Association aka Abraccine voted City of God the 8th greatest Brazilian film of all time, in its list of the 100 best Brazilian films.[8]

Meirelles and Lund went on to create the City of Men TV series and its 2007 film adaptation, which share some of the actors (notably leads Silva and Darlan Cunha) and their setting with City of God.

  1. ^ a b c "Cidade de Deus (City of God)". Cineuropa. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "The City of God (2002)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  3. ^ Cajueiro, Marcelo (October 12, 2007). "Lumiere relights business". Variety. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d "Cidade de Deus (2002)". Lumiere. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  5. ^ Lyons, Charles (May 16, 2002). "Miramax hails Brazilian 'God'". Variety. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  6. ^ Izmirlian, Pablo (September 4, 2005). "From Way South of the Border, an Ecuadorean Thriller". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
  7. ^ "City of God". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  8. ^ "Abraccine organiza ranking dos 100 melhores filmes brasileiros". Abraccine - Associação Brasileira de Críticos de Cinema (in Portuguese). November 27, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2024.