Weekend Rental: City of God

Brazilian export City of
Men, about two young men putting themselves and their friendships to the test in a Rio slum, opens this weekend in select theatres. The film, directed by Paulo Morelli, is actually a spin-off of a TV series by the same title–which itself was a spin-off of the highly acclaimed, award winning international box-office hit, City of God, directed by Fernando Meirelles. If you didn’t already manage to catch the 2002 film, expect a picture that is gritty, visceral, brutal; but always fresh, often stunningly filmed, and one that is ultimately hopeful in its telling of three decades in the life of a Rio ‘favella’, and the assortment of Dickensian characters who live and kill; rise and fall with its confines, and the tale of one clever and resourceful lad who manages to make it out of the ghetto. Make this priority as your weekend rental.