BRAFF NY ’14: City of God—10 Years Later

It was a big deal in Brazil when Fernando Meirelles was nominated for best director, but Katia Lund never got her Oscar props, because the Academy has issues with the “co-director” credit. However, this is strictly a management controversy. It is the hopes and unrealized dreams of the favela kids who appeared in their art-house smash that concern Cavi Borges & Luciano Vidigal, who document fates of the cast’s winners and losers in City of God—10 Years Later (trailer here), which screens during the 2014 Brazilian Film Festival in New York.

Many of the nonprofessionals who appeared in City of God hoped it would be their golden ticket out of the favela. Not surprisingly, they were not particularly sophisticated when it came to negotiating back-end deals, but they did not have a lot of leverage in the process. Clearly, Meirelles did quite well for himself, but not a lot of the money trickled down. Hollywood would certainly approve.

Still, the television series and subsequent follow-up film, both titled City of Men provided steady work for many ensemble players. Nonetheless, Borges & Vidigal clearly suggest there is something rather arbitrary about the distribution of post-release success. Of course, it is pretty clear why Alice Braga advanced to a Hollywood career in films like I Am Legend, despite her limited screen time. Yet, it is harder to explain why some cast-members caught on and others did not.

If nothing else, 10 Years certainly re-establishes life is not fair. They bring this point home dramatically when they capture the reunion between Seu Jorge and the “kid who was shot in the foot,” who now works as a bellhop in the luxury hotel the actor-singer often patronizes. Ironically, he was offered a fair amount of work as a child actor during the immediate aftermath of City, but dropped out of the business due to family issues.

While Braga and Seu Jorge are each featured in their own segments, the absence of Lund and particularly Meirelles is conspicuous. Whether it is just or not, viewers are left with the impression he was something of an exploiter, but that gives 10 Years an edge and a point-of-view. As a result, it is hard to dismiss the film as a mere “DVD extra.”

As a sobering look behind the scenes of the Brazilian film industry, 10 Years demonstrates how good intentions can sometimes lead to unrealistic expectations. Even so, there is no question it will resonate more deeply with viewers who have substantially invested in the franchise. Surprisingly pointed but still not essential for general audiences, City of God—10 Years Later screens this coming Wednesday (6/4) and Friday (6/6) as part of this year’s Brazilian Film Festival in New York at the Tribeca Cinemas.

City of Men

While the Cristo Redentor physically looks down over Rio de Janeiro, it might seem at times as though no higher power watches over the city. Last year, Jason Kohn’s documentary Manda Bala captured bizarre and disturbing of a city which had all but surrendered to street crime. City of Men (trailer here), the latest installment of producer Fernando Meirelles’ hyper-realistic series on life in Brazilian shanty-towns, paints a more personal portrait, depicting an even starker reality for the children of Rio.

Following the previous film City of God and the Brazilian television series also titled City of Men, the film picks up on the lives of Ace and Wallace as they come of age in the favela shanty on Dead End Hill. Do not confuse them with the Dead End Kids or the Bowery Boys. Coming of age on their Hill involves dodging gunfire more than maturing emotionally. That they have nearly lived to see their eighteenth birthdays as the film opens is no small feat.

Life is cheap on Dead End Hill and becoming ever more so thanks to an erupting gang war. Ace and Wallace have been able to maintain a neutral non-combatant status, but the complex web of personal relationships on the Hill threatens to draw them into the conflict.

Kids die in this film. As a result it might be disturbing viewing for some parents. However, the film actually has much to say about parenting, as Ace comes to grips with fatherhood (almost certainly prematurely), while Wallace sets out to find his long absent, ex-convict father.

Tragedy begets tragedy in City of Men, as the cycle of violence threatens take on Shakespearean dimensions, with the sins of the fathers intruding into the lives of their sons. Yet despite the apparent nihilism of life on Dead End Hill, there is very definitely a moral center to the film. Indeed, it is aptly titled, as it explicitly addresses the responsibilities of fatherhood and manhood.

Although the stories of Men and God are fictional, the actors came from Rio’s favelas. One might argue Douglas Silva and Darlan Cunha as Ace and Wallace respectively, are simply playing themselves, but they both exhibit a dynamic screen presence. Director Paulo Mirelli, a veteran of the television incarnation, has a compelling visual sense, aided and abetted by composer Antonio Pinto’s gentle Brazilian rhythms, often sounding eerily anachronistic over the landscape of urban violence and blight.

City of Men might be too raw for some viewers in its brutal depictions of teens and even pre-teens engaged in stone cold killing. By now, you probably have a good idea if this is a film for you. It is intense and gripping—highly recommended to those who would not be deterred by the prospect of some very realistic street violence, because that bloodshed serves an artistic purpose. It opens today in New York at the Angelika.