City of God is one of those once in a lifetime movies that exists solely because someone had a story to tell and they did everything they could to tell it as best as they could.

The film has a raw, visceral feeling to it that gives it a certain quality over most others. It does not feel like a film but a documentary. The handheld camera adds to this atmosphere tremendously. Many films try to have those iconic 'movie shots' where everything is picturesque, but Fernando Meirelles doesn't need to do that to make the film great. There are great shots that appear to be from a character's perspective that are better that way than if it was on a tripod.

My only gripe with the film is the overuse of narration, in parts of the film it works well, but I wish they found other ways of telling what was told in narration.

City of God encapsulates everything that is true about this world, far removed from the suburban neighborhoods of developed countries lies people living in poor conditions fighting for their slice of paradise. When it comes down to it people will truly do anything to fight for themselves, which is portrayed better here than almost anywhere else. (06/12/19)