Very few people showed up for this special screening at The British Academy of Film and T.V. and they missed the best film I have seen all year. This brilliant offering from Brazil is certain to be up for a Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination, and for my money, deserves to win. It brings to mind Hector Babenco’s masterpiece PIXOTE, filmed about 14 years ago also in the slums of Rio, and starring the incredible Fernada Montenegro as an old prostitute who shelters child criminals all played by amateur actors. The main character of CITY OF GOD is not a person but a place. “Cidade de Deus” is a poor Brazilian housing project born in the 1960’s that – as organized crime and drugs gained a foothold in the area – became one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro by the beginning of the 80’s. The film follows the lives of two boys growing up in this violent neighborhood, Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) – the narrator – too frail to become an outlaw, who ends up as a professional photographer, and Li’l Dice (Douglas Silva) – later known as Li’l Ze (Leandro Firmino da Hora) – who killed without remorse or pity since he was first handed a gun at 10 years of age, and whose unbalanced mind and total greed propel him to become Rio de Janeiro’s most dangerous criminal while still in his teens.

His partner in crime, Benny (Phellipe Haagensen), a much kinder soul, albeit also a killer, uses his new found wealth and power to help other street kids and tries to stop them from killing each other. He experiences a redemption, and is about to leave for a new life with his girlfriend when he is accidentally murdered at his going-away party, by a bullet intended for Li’l Ze.

There is also a gang of very young child criminals (average ages 10-12) in the last chapter known as “The Runts” who have pistols with which they commit robberies and sometimes shoot people. They live in the one area of “Cidade de Deus” not run by Li’l Ze, which he has given to “Carrot” (Matheus Nachtergaele – the only well known professional Brazilian actor in the cast) whose life he has spared only because he is an old friend of Benny. The rest of the main drug dealers were all killed by Li’l Ze and Benny in one night of massacre, making them the undisputed Crime Kings of the area. There is a very powerful scene where Li’l Ze punishes the Runts for straying into his territory, by killing one and maiming another, while the others escaped. They have their revenge later!

Meireilles maintains the same three-part structure as Lin’s book, firstly set in the 60’s showing romanticized “light thievery and naiveté to the tune of samba music. The beginning of the 1970’s telling Li’l Ze’s story is told with lots of color, a freer camera, and the motif is loose and psychedelic. The last phase of the film is war. The atmosphere is monochromatic, cold, nervous, suffocating, with jump cuts, whips and out-of-focus images darting across the screen. Bad vibes seem to emanate from the cocaine. The cinematography by Cesar Charlone is brilliant for its stark reality and incredible diversity.

To find his cast, the director created an “interpretation workshop” run by documentary film-maker and teacher Katia Lund, working with non-professional actors from different Rio de Janiero communities for eight months prior to filming. From the 200 “students” he chose his actors and the results are stunning. Like Hector Babenco before him, Meirelles elicits incredibly harsh and natural performances from his young gang members, their extreme youth only heightening the drama and horror of their story. This is a great film that should not be missed, and will, I'm sure, win many awards worldwide.