City of God

How far do the films you have studied for this topic challenge the audience, generating debate about the worlds they represent?

Unlike La Haine, City of God has a clear resolution where the runts take over from Lil Ze after shooting him. In City of God we are shown clear generic conventions of crime films such as the rise and fall of a criminal. This convention is shown through the character of Lil Ze as he is represented as a victim of crime at first when he is a child and kills Rocket's older brother, however when he takes over the drug business and becomes head of the City of God the audience see that Lil Ze is actually a villain as he turns the City of God into a war zone where we are shown more conventions of crime such as blood, violence, guns and gang wars. The resolution of City of God shows the villain being shot and the runts taking over, this shows that the victims of Lil Ze's crimes have now become head of the City of God and therefore the film represents a cycle of violence within the favelas. This would cause debate within the audience as City of God does not show a realistic representation of Brazil, instead it tries to meet audience expectations and is made to entertain rather than to educate the audience and show them what life is actually like in the favelas.