Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
City of God (Meirelles and Lund, Brazil, 2002 - Coggle Diagram
City of God (Meirelles and Lund, Brazil, 2002
-
REPRESENTATION
Masculinity
Knockout Ned - depicted as a good man, has escaped favela life in some sense through his military services and job as a bus fare collector.
- The rape of his girlfriend and murder of his brother and father push Ned back into this life of crime.
- He massively contrasts with Ze, (inherently evil and unhinged) as Ned's fall into crime is fuelled by vengeance and anger.
- He can be seen as a tragic hero as he embarks on a quest for retribution.
-
Femininity
Marina - woman is a reporter therefore challenging the over all representation in this film.
- Seen to be the strongest female character.
- Shown to have a good well paying job and is an influential person to Rocket through photography which helps to give him a life line for escaping the City of God.
- The audience would see that very few women have any authority in this film but when they do they start to have a positive impact .
- All female characters in the film have passive, side roles.
- Most women in the film (Shorty's wife, Dona Zelia; Blacky's girlfriend and Ned's girlfriend) - all recipients of male violence (sexual and physical).
The drug trade is highly important in creating power.
However, none of the drug dealers are female - could be comment on females are perceived to have inconsistencie in terms of powerMen assert their power by:
- Being in control of the drug trade
- Seek sexual gratification through rape
- Brandish guns at a moments notice
Men have strong grip over women - representation of their primal instincts being enforced upon 'their' women - derogatory
SCENE (CHALLENGING) -
Marina the reporter - strongest female in the film - challenges stereotype of women.
- Shown to have a good, well paying job - influential role for Rocket through photography which leads to his escape from the city of god.
- Audience see very few women are seen to have authority in the film but when they do they start to have a positive influence on people.
Bernice - Shaggys girlfriend is seen to have power over him she has fallen pregnant with his baby and persuades him to leave his life in the city of god to spend it with her. The outcome of this change in power is bad and seems to suggest that the power belongs with male characters as it results in Shaggys death. Both woman in the film, Bernice and Angelica, have power over their boyfriends but ends up resulting in the death of shaggy and Bennie which shows the shift in power has.
SCENE - Shaggy death
- He tries to escape with his girlfriend but is shot and killed by the police.
- Shows that women are seen as a negative influence on the men as they lead to death, as this happens twice in the film with Bennie being killed when he tries to escape with his girlfriend Angelica.
- When violence is happening in the film we only see men involved as this is what they are associated with.
- Scenes where drugs are involved - men are always seen - women are not associated with this (seen as a strong powerful trade where only men can survive.)
FILM LANGUAGE
Editing
Fast-paced, aggressive cuts that match the energy of the action and sound, contrasted with freeze-frames, flashbacks, and parallel editing - tracks time and character over three decades.
SCENE - Opening Scene
- Film opens in a rush, chicken breaks free from a block party barbecue, chased down a narrow alley by gang members with knives and guns, a samba beat dictates the rhythm of the cuts.
- Quick, choppy editing shows chaos - close-ups of knife sharpening and Rocket caught in the middle.
- Establishes a visual metaphor - in the favela, the weak (represented by the chicken) are hunted down by the system, setting the hyper-accelerated pace for the entire narrative.
CInematography
Shaky, handheld camerawork, crash zooms, low-angle power shots, and tight, claustrophobic framing.
SCENE - Tender trio Robbery/Football game
- Tender trio walk through neighbourhood/plays football/interacts with younger kids - seamlessly blending menace with a deceptively casual atmosphere.
- Camera uses sudden crash zooms and low-angle frames - presents Li'l Zé/Shaggy as intimidating figures.
- Handheld tracking shots makes audience feel physically trapped inside the crowded alleyways.
Sound
Pervasive diegetic sounds (gunshots, blades, screams) juxtaposed with upbeat, contrapuntal samba/funk music and Rocket’s non-diegetic first-person voiceover narration.
SCENE - Shootings
- Rocket narrates his perspective as an aspiring photographer while chaotic gunfights erupt around him.
- The sound design strips away ‘Hollywood audio polish’.
- Raw ambient noises and sharp gun reports mix with joyful regional music - emphasises tragic irony that violence is an everyday, almost musical rhythm of life in the slums.
-