Cidade dos Homens (2007)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Paulo Morelli

Writers:

Elena Soarez (screenplay) and
Paulo Morelli (story)

Release Date:

31 August 2007 (Brazil)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

An unforgettable tale of friendship and survival in a city where the greatest challenge is growing up.

Plot:

Best buddies Acerola and Laranjinha, about to turn 18, discover things about their missing fathers' pasts which will shatter their solid friendship, in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs from Rio's favelas.

Plot Keywords:

Gang | Parole | Friendship | Missing Father | Favela

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Douglas Silva	...	Acerola
Darlan Cunha	...	Laranjinha
Jonathan Haagensen	...	Madrugadão
Rodrigo dos Santos	...	Heraldo
Camila Monteiro	...	Cris
Naima Silva	...	Camila
Eduardo 'BR' Piranha	...	Nefasto (as Eduardo BR)
Luciano Vidigal	...	Fiel
Pedro Henrique	...	Caju
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aldene Abreu	...	Soldado 1 Bete
Gabriel Aguila	...	Soldado do Madrugadao 2
Edy Argolo	...	Soldado do Madrugadao 7
Jonathan Azevedo	...	Soldado de Madrugadao 1
Andrea Bacellar	...	Patroa Cris
Marcello Barcellos	...	Policial 2
Alex Bastillo	...	Soldado do Careca 1
Bel	...	Soldado do Careca 1
Biro	...	Soldado Nefasto 4
Arthur Bispo Coutinho	...	Vapor Madrugadao 2
Black	...	Soldado Nefasto 1
Alex Borges	...	Garçon 3
Isaac Borges	...	Soldado 2 Doldinho
Barbara Borgga	...	Funciodila Presidio
Flavio Borja	...	1 Juarez
Alexandro Brito	...	Moleque da farmacia
Bronca	...	Guarda do patronato
Erik Burdon	...	Garçon 2
Wilton Campos	...	Soldado Nefasto 8
Michelle Cardoso	...	Valéria
André Carvalho	...	Soldado do Madrugadao 6
Cláudio Cinti	...	Golano Acongueiro
Márcio Costa	...	Soldado 3 Polito
Luca De Castro	...	Sindico do condominio
Dimas	...	Soldado do Morro do Careca 1
José Mario Farias	...	Helinho
Victor Fernando	...	Soldado Nefasto 2
Jonathan Gomes	...	Vapor Madrugadao 4
Michel Gomes	...	Fininho
Maurício Gonçalves	...	Cris's father
Mário Hermeto	...	Garçon 4
Eber Inacio	...	Zézé
Claudio Jaborandy	...	Complice de Heraldo
Fábio Lago	...	Ceara
Sônia Lino	...	Esmeralda
Vendedora Loja	...	Carolina Bezerra
Robson Luiz	...	Garoto novo
Shawn McGill	...	Wallace (voice)
Vinicius Messias	...	Garçon 1
Nandao	...	Soldado do Careca 1
Negao	...	Soldado do Careca 1
Brenno Neves	...	Madrugadao crianca
Vinícius Oliveira	...	Clayton
Vítor Oliveira	...	Clayton
Allan Pacheco	...	Soldado Nefasto 5
Pagodinho	...	Soldado Nefasto 7
Joao Paulo	...	Soldado do Careca 1
Alran Pinheiro	...	Funciodilo Cartolo
Avandro Ricardo	...	Soldado do Madrugadao 3
Robson Rocha	...	Soldado 4 Bulu
Kamilla Rodrigues	...	Tina
Babu Santana	...	Drug lord from Morro do Careca
André Santos	...	Soldado Nefasto 9
Rafaela Santos	...	Bela da Madrugadao
Robson Santos	...	Morro do Careca
Luisao Seixas	...	Pedrelia
Bino Silva	...	Soldado do Madrugadao 4
Tiago Souza	...	Soldado Nefasto 6
Thogun	...	Pal de ace ola
Luiz Tomaz	...	Soldado Nefasto 3
Everton Tonzao	...	Soldado do Careca 1
Charles Torres	...	Pregador
Arthur Viana	...	Soldado do Madrugadao 5
Delgresson Vieira	...	Vapor Madrugadao 3
Jersiano Vieira	...	Soldado do Morro do Careca
Luis Whellington	...	Vapor Madrugadao 1
Bebe Zao	...	Soldado do Careca 1
Zol	...	Soldado do Careca 1

Also Known As:

City of Men (International: English title)

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Brazil:16 | USA:R | Ireland:15A | UK:15 | Japan:PG-12 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:MA | Netherlands:12 | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:M (TV rating)

Company:

Fox Filmes do Brasil

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Camila is showing Wallace her hair and telling him where Ace is, a leg of the tripod holding the close up camera is visible on the right side in the wide shot of them.

Movie Connections:

Features "Cidade dos Homens: Foi Sem Querer (#3.2)" (2004)

Fathers and sons

This sepia-sunbleached feature derives from, and features the same main characters as, the eponymous 2002-2005 Brazilian TV series about (mostly) boys in the "favela" hill ghettos above Rio for which Morelli did some of the writing and directing. The series, starring Darlan Cunha as Laranjinha (Wallace) and Douglas Silva as Acerola (Ace) --growing up from year to year and episode to episode--sort of grew out of the Fernando Meirelles/Kátia Lund film, 'City of God,' which in turn was based on Paulo Lins' tumultuous and partly autobiographical novel about three decades in the slums and the involvement of youth as dealers, assassins, and victims. Actually the Ace/Wallace characters as young teenagers, always played by Silva and Cunha, predate 'City of God' by two years; they appeared in a short film called 'Palace II' in 2000. The history of these films and stories is as intricate as the world they depict. Douglas Silva was the prepubescent tough in 'City of God' known by he moniker Dadinho--Lil' Dice.

'City of Men' is warmer and more intimate than the original film. 'City of God' has been both admired for its virtuosity--it's full of tours de force of visual violence and equally brilliant feats of rapid storytelling--and condemned as reveling too much in blood and gore, making teenage killers who terrorize neighborhoods into little glamor boys. That's quite true. It's unfortunately also true that in the ghettos of Rio as of other places such as the USA, young gun-toting drug dealers are the sexy local pop stars. Maybe the earlier film fails to take a sufficiently clear moral stand, or too much reflects the viewpoints of the young favela males it depicts. Nonetheless it's exhilarating film-making. Paradoxically, it also has a more positive arc than 'City of Men,' because its hero works his way out of the slums and into mainstream Rio de Janeiro to become a photojournalist. In 'City of Men,' nothing like that happens. Instead, there is a difficult reconciliation between the two boys, on the brink of eighteen, despite a stunning revelation about their lost fathers, and one of the fathers comes back into the picture and, reluctantly at first, chooses to be a warm presence in the life of his son. Both of the boys endure moments of terrible loneliness and isolation, which reveal how isolating the world of shifting and dangerous loyalties and hills fought for and lost is for a boy who in the first place lacks parents. But the focus is on the reconciliations.

In the TV series, the boys are in school. They face difficulties even showing up, and only one of them, Ace (Silva) really hits the books (he's also fascinated by guns of all kinds). Laranjinha is closer to turning into a young hood.

Thugh the new movie 'City of Men' is less specific than the TV series (judging by the DVD collections of episodes that I've seen) and suffers a bit by comparison with either it or 'City of God,' the vibrancy of the life on offer in all these films is still unmistakable, as well as the attractiveness of the young actors, the warmth of the world evoked--and vernacular swiftness that of the filming and editing, which somehow is both relaxing and unnerving.

Wallace/Laranjinha is trying to find out who his real father is; he doesn't want "unknown" to be on the place for "father" on his papers. Acerola knows his father is dead, and he wants to know what happened. He's faced with the local problem from the other side. His wife Cris (Camila Monteiro) keeps leaving their toddler son Clayton (Vinicius Oliveira) with him to take care of. He doesn't want to accept the responsibility. But if he reneges on it, he'll leave Clayton in the same place he and Wallace are in. Ace abandons Clayton on the beach early on when Madrugadão (Midnight, Jonathan Haagensen), the gang leader of the hill where they live, risks assassination to descend on a super-hot day for a swim in the ocean. He also turns some flashy cartwheels and shows off his spectacular pecs. Madrugadão, like Wallace (i.e. Darlan Cunha), is handsome and charismatic. Ace is so childish he forgets his own son; but he rushes back and finds him. And when Cris gets a job in the wealthier city of São Paulo, Ace, with great difficulty, forces himself to take on the responsibility of raising Clayton.

Wallace (perhaps a bit too easily) finds his father, a bearded man named Heraldo (Rodrigo dos Santos), who has just gotten out of prison after serving fifteen years of a twenty-year sentence--for murder. Heraldo's beard cannot conceal the fact that he is not very mature. He hasn't shouldered the responsibilities of being a man. But he also carries the weight of suffering and gratitude.

When rival gang leader Fasto (Eduardo "BR" Piranha) takes over Midnight's territory on Dead End Hill, a new gang war breaks out right in the middle of Ace and Wallace's journey of self-discovery.

'City of Men' is a more tender, individual and grownup story than 'City of God'; from what I've seen of the TV series it grows out of, it's less specific and less witty. It works as a kind of antidote to the amorality one feels in 'City of God,' and its warmth is touching. Nor is it visually ineffective, or its sense of the milieu less rich--except. Except that it quite lacks the momentum and adrenaline-rush brilliance of 'City of God's' virtuoso film-making and editing, or the rich range of minor characters the latter has. It is a little bit meandering, and its fast jump-cut slides from scene to scene sometimes seem out of place. As the AV Club reviewer says, much has been gained in this new film, but much has been lost as well. Still 'City of Men' is well worth watching.