The World Film joural Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The World Film joural - Essay Example The film’s characters  exist  in  reality  making it more  real  and  intense; in fact, some of the cast resided in Rio de Janeiro at the time of shooting this film. City of God focuses on the tagline that if one chooses to  run,  the  beast  catches up with  them and, if they choose to  stay, the  beast  eats them. This is a moral dilemma which faces the characters in the film, who have to  choose  to either leave the crime-infested suburb or stay put and become affected by the organized crime. The film has received much acclaim on different aspects ranging from receiving four Academy Award nominations, the best writing (adaptation), directing, editing and cinematography. The film opens by chickens  being prepared  for a meal, but one of the chickens manages to escape and  is chased  by a  gang  member who meet Rocket, a  youth  who seems to  believe  that the gang is out to kill him. The film’s  excellent  cine matography comes out when the chicken halts between the Rocket and the armed gang member showing the  confusion  being witnessed  in the area by most young persons, unsure of which side to  follow; either the  bunch  of criminals or the  ordinary  person. Suddenly, we  are taken  back to Rocket’s childhood days where he is playing  soccer; here, we learn how the City of God  was established  in the late 1960s. ... This, in turn, endears the trio to the citizens, who  protect  the  former  and some young men even  idolize  them as heroes and saviors of the community. However, such idolization has detrimental effects for some of the boys in the City of God as seen through Li’l Dice, who manages to talk his counterparts into raiding a motel and robbing its occupants off their valuables. Being too young, Li’l Dice  is tasked  to serve as a lookout for the police, a move that angers Li’l Dice, who subsequently uses his issued gun to kill all the motel occupants. In the City of God, induction into the life of crime and gangs takes place at a tender age as evident through Li’l Dice  being given  a gun to  warn  his  crew  of police’ arrival. The law enforcement agencies  are brought  into the limelight upon the occurrence of the motel massacre. In the story, the police have a laid back attitude towards  criminal  gangs, choosing t o wait until a crime as grave as the massacre occurs before they  act  ((Lins and Entrekin, p. 113). Cohesion among members of criminal gangs is minimal as they  turn  against one another upon the slightest provocation. Li’l Dice, who appears to have enjoyed the act of killing, shots down his friend Goose after stealing from him. The film leaps forward into the 1970s where we note that Rocket has since joined a group of  youthful  hippies, the â€Å"Groovies†, who take part in smoking marijuana. Rocket’s  infatuation  with a girl draws him further towards his interest in photography.  However, his efforts of getting closer to the girl  are squashed  by â€Å"the Runts†, a group of young trouble seekers under the leadership of Li’l Dice who now refers to himself as Li’l Ze. Li’l Dice’s  evolution  into a drug king results in his wanton