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

Both City of God and La Haine can be seen as realistic films to an extent, La Haine more so as it has a realistic framing narrative. La Haine feels incredibly French throughout the film due to the conflicts in highlights and even the sense of humour placed within it, whereas,  City of God is more generic for a film in the genre of crime.

The narrative in both films I have studied are circular narratives as both begin at the end. City of God is stylised whereas La Haine uses realist framework to set a certain tone. In La Haine circular narrative is used to highlight the on-going crime and the cycle of violence in French society by showing the beginning and ending in a similar way- with a murder and Hubert's repetition of "So far, so good, so far so good, so far so good." City of God uses it to showcase the ongoing problems in the favelas by using Lil Ze as a sort of Case study. The Runts show how there is a circle of violence as even though they are young, they can easily commit murder due to fact that they are desensitise to it.

The opening to La Haine uses real riot footage so audience can get a feel for what has been happening in France that most mainstream news outlets will not show the rest of the world. The most poignant shot being of one rioter shouting over to a wall of riot police, he shouts “You can shoot. We only have stones.” This highlights the vulnerability these people are. This is preceded by a shot of a petrol bomb hitting the globe as Hubert does his “So far, so good” speech, this is metaphorical for how all this fighting is destructing the world.

One of the most realistic examples in La Haine of power is the media scene. The scene starts out with the trio sitting in a park Sayid in the middle, this reflects their relationship as Sayid poses as a buffer between Vinz and Hubert. The white flash used between the scene where they sitting listlessly and where they are talking is used to show time passing. The News crew’s car drives past them and then reverses back which makes it feel like they are in a safari, they are set as looking down at the trio the way people visiting zoos are set when looking into dangerous animal enclosures. After the reporter asks if they were involved in the past nights riots, the trio retaliate, they are shot looking up towards the crew however the shot is low angle which suggests they are in control and won this battle. The media shoot Vinz in high angle shot as he is angry and this reflects how stereotypes are caused in France as this is what French citizens are going to see of what kind of people live in the projects. This shot demonises Vinz and so gives justification for police activity and the rest of country to support them.

The function of the projects is to show segregation between the French and non-French communities and how the non-French do not have the opportunities to excel. It provides an understanding of the characters motives and acts as a counter point to the view of Paris being the ‘city of love’. The projects is portrayed by being very dull and cramped and there are many ‘empty’ shots such as the filming of the gym showing how desolate it is. On the other hand in Paris the camera is very static and the trio are tightly framed showing how trapped they feel. The use of juxtaposing these two places is to show how the non-French live in poverty whereas the French/Parisians seemingly have comfortable lives. This reinforced by real life news articles where people have said they cannot find decent jobs due to where they live (eg in the projects) or their names (typically non-French names).  

The director of City of God uses different stylistic ways to show how the cities changed. In the 1960's, a lot of open space, wide shots and one story buildings are used to portray how the people are optimistic about life, they had homes, jobs and the only crime was only low level as well as giving it a sense of community. The shots are bathed in gold lighting which adds to the sense of optimism. Natural imagery such as the picturesque lake and the sunset reinforce the representation of the favelas that there is a sort of wonder to the place. City of God was made to eradicate the favelas however by the 1970's 'one-story houses have developed into two or three story structures,' and so City of God started to resemble one of many favelas. In comparison to the sixties, the seventies have more varying colours with a bluish tint, giving a more sterile, cold atmosphere. It’s an area filled with tall buildings and enclosed spaces adding to a sense of paranoia. There are more obscured shots that also add to this feeling as it gives a sense of being watched. The 1970's sequences placed in the favelas comes with another stylistic shift from the director. The favelas now look completely different to that of the 60's. The colouring is even starker that before with most shots being of a night, it feels more dangerous. Shots are even more obscured, reinforcing the feeling of fear and paranoia. The dead bodies show how there is no hope of leaving the favelas. By the later scenes become darker even more so and favelas became even more industrial. Even more of the shots are obscured reinforced that it is a place of fear and paranoia due to all the conflict. The crime that happens within the favelas such as stealing gas makes for a very cosmetic view of poverty as well as the live chicken market.

Crime films often highlight the life of a crime figure. City of God highlights the life of Lil Ze, the head of a gang. He is based on a real person however this convention is not really used to comment on a social issue at the time of production as the film was set in the sixties going into the seventies, he is seen as a very generic character type. The moral of City of God seems to be violence breeds violence. Lil Ze, the antagonist who thrives on conflict who kills one of his friends just for talking gives the runts their own guns. By the end of the film the runts all have a go at shooting Lil Ze and so they take control of the favela.

Both films roughly focus on conflicts between citizens and police however La Haine is a more realistic view as it uses realistic framing narrative. City of God is a more stylistic film as well as being more generic for its genre however that does not mean it can be discredited as the aim of the film is to entertain and that is what it does.