SSC Film Studies

The director of city of god contributes to the representation of the urban environment of the film by separating the decades into different atmospheres and stages of decay in the Favelas.

The film starts out set in the 60’s where the new ‘planned settlements’ built in an attempt to eradicate the slums of Brazil where being inhabited by people for the first time. The shots of the community are incredible picturesque an idyllic using a gold tint over the shots of an incredibly open environment in an attempt to recreate the memories that we have from childhood. The setting from the 60's era is used in order to later show a juxtaposition between the level of crime seen by our protagonist through different stages in his life. The 'Tender Trio' as they were nicknamed, show the low level crime that was committed and how the whole community seemed to back it which will then be juxtaposed with the 70's and 80's era in which L'il Ze runs the community based simply on fear.

The 70's show a new era for the favelas as the once peaceful, low level community has now been transformed into a poverty ridden wasteland with new groups such as 'playboys' and an entire drug scene being introduced. The whole era is filmed with a slight blue tone overlapping drawing attention to the 'cold' feeling now that the natural sunlight and happiness has disappeared, alongside this, the shots are a lot more closed into due the addition of walls and buildings placing the characters in a more 'trapped' environment. Everything seems artificial due to the lack of culture in the new favelas, an intense contrast to the 60's where there was a huge community feel and people worked hard for what they had. the added on parts to the houses show a more industrial man made society that shows the decay in society.

When the 80's come about, the film is shot in a completely different way with very dull, bland lighting, remaining neutral and showing no essence of stylistic shots. The majority of the shots are partly if not mostly covered by walls and buildings. these obscure shots create a sense of voyeurism and paranoia for the characters as the lives they have built for themselves are all coming to an end, so that the new cycle of violence can continue with other children in the favelas.

In conclusion, the environments act as a signifier for the mood of the scenes and how they will play out and how the characters are feeling at this particular time and it is important that the director picks up on these things to add another layer to the film.