Why City of God isn't great
People don't discuss much about it. Do you have any other reasons?
shareNo cheesy one-liners to quote from.
MovieChat Forums > Cidade de Deus (2004) Discussion > Why City of God isn't great
I'VE never really seen what's so great about this movie. Not a bad movie but with that said it has no business ranked amongst some of the all time greats.
sharePretty much my sentiment about it. I felt a little mislead in the descriptions I saw too; I thought it'd be much more a rumination about photography going into it, but the whole photography aspect barely mattered, except as the means by which the protagonist is ingratiated with the criminals. It wasn't that he was particularly good at photography, or had anything meaningful to say about it; just that he happened to be the only one the criminals knew in the neighborhood apparently who could competently operate a camera. Big whoop. About the most meaningful thing the film has to say is it's nice if you know criminals and they let you hang around them and take their corporate propaganda pics for them if you're a photo journalist. Or something. Meh. It's not particularly flawed in any way, but like you I just don't get why it's regarded as highly as it is.
shareI like the movie for it's portrayal of gangster and ghetto life. Nonetheless, as with other gangster movies, I don't like it's glorification of "bad guys". I mean, in one scene, they put a bullet thru a pre-schooler's foot, and kill another pre-schooler (a gang initiation for a child).
Ultimately, what these gangsters deserved was torture and death. Especially, since they were willing to kill children, and small children, for that matter.
Too much of that herky-jerky camera movement.
Makes it hard to concentrate on the story because it keeps reminding me that someone can't hold the camera steady. If the cameraman was afflicted with Saint Vitus dance, they should have hired someone else. A steadycam is worth its weight in gold.
It's not great because the director doesn't know how many shots a revolver can fire and is ignorant of just how accurate a little kid with a big gun would be. OK, the kid might get lucky but the shots thing kills it.
shareEveryone I have talked to has said it was a good (or great) movie.
Some have said it's tough to watch because it's brutal with some tough scenes to watch, but they've all said it was a well-made film.
They never showed actual use of the banana
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