How significant is genre to your understanding of your focus films?

As both City of God and La Haine are referred to as 'crime films' we can assume that they will both fit into the framework of a stereotypical crime film. This actually isn't the case. Even though they both contain conventions which are utilised in the crime genre, they portray them in different ways. La Haine depicts a realistic view of life in the Parisian projects. It does this by basing its narrative around 3 non-French teenagers from the projects. The director, Mathieu Kassovitz, did this to present the audience with a realistic view of life in the projects and the lengths they would go to to survive. City of God on the other hand portrays a stylistic and attractive view of the criminal underworld in Rio. 

The director, Fernando Meireless, does this by basing the film in exotic locations which appeals to the audience and therefore depicts the crime life as being something that is less of a necessity and more of a privilege. In La Haine, the location where it is set is very barren and lacks prospects. The black and white filter also adds to this sense of poverty as it removes any hint of wealth and replaces it with hardship. For City of God this is the complete opposite. The first section in the 60's uses a gold filter which makes the sun brighter and the location appear optimistic and idealistic. Throughout the film the filter gets increasing colder and eventually becomes a blue tinge but even with the coldness it still doesn't depict the favelas as being as lifeless as the projects. 

The characters are also presented in completely different ways. In City of God there in no denying that the criminals are vindictive and self-centred. The main representation of this stereotype in the film is Lil Ze because he embodies all the qualities which make him a criminal.