How far can it be argued that your chosen films provide a ‘realistic’ representation of the people and places they focus on?

Both films represent realistic environments very well but to a certain extent but both films are very different. The film La Haine represents realism in a more natural way whereas City of God presents it more in a stylistic way. We can compare the two opening sequences for both films. The opening sequence for La Haine starts off with actual archived footage. It is of previous riots that have happened in France. The footage also sets the scene for what the film is about. It then follows into a fake news report on the riots, which draws us into the world, and environment that the characters live in. In City of God, the opening sequence is very stylised. We see a chicken getting chased by a lot of people through the slums of the city. We can see that there is lots of quick edits and the colour in the sequence has been edited and have been stylised greatly. It is very unrealistic. There are a lot of micro elements to focus on for each film. In La Haine we get to see the world from three points of view. These are from the main characters who are Vinz, Hubert and Said. The camera also has a documentary style effect on it as we see that the shots a very long and continuous with very little edits in between. The camera is sometimes shaky to make it look like you are there and the way it is shot in black an white also gives it a feel like it is real and that the characters are probably going to live there for their lives in poverty. Poverty is an issue in both films and affects people differently in both films. Poverty is represented in a cosmetic way. We can see this in La Haine where the women in the film are in the house and they are sewing clothes or making them. This is because people in the projects can’t afford money for new clothes as they have no jobs and they live in a run down area. Another source of poverty in the film is where the three characters are on the roof of the flats and the characters can’t afford to buy a hot dog as they haven’t got 5 francs. In La Haine the projects are shot in a black and white colour. This is to show that it is a depressing place and that people who live there live there will have a very bleak life with nothing to do. This is because the area is poor and that the characters won’t be able to escape the area because they have been stereotyped and also feel segregated from Paris with where they live and their where they have backgrounds from. In City of God however, we also do get a sense that it is a bad place to live. We can tell this from the way the camera is situated. Each shot is either off focus because it is being blocked by a wall and it is dark. This is because the place is claustrophobic and that is because of the way it is built up. It is dark also because of the tall buildings. You get a sense that it is a scary place to live as you don’t know what dangers can be going on behind any corner of the city.