The Movie:

Covering similar but yet surprisingly fresh territory in the violence ridden street hills of Rio de Janeiro, City of Men attempts to accomplish something different than its shockingly brilliant predecessor, City of God.  Instead of childhood lost, the theme here is adulthood realized through family and friend instead of violence and power.

The film is beautifully shot in one of the most socially contrasting cities of the world, showcasing a lost paradise consisting of old world remembrance and harsh slum realities.  Wallace faces each troublesome turn of his 18 year old life as he has to decide between gangs, love, friendship, and death on an almost persistent basis.  It’s a drama that unfolds with the hope that the audience can grasp for.

While the film does portray these values with immediacy, pacing starts to affect the overall urgency in their predicament.  It loses a little of its luster, and often pulls tricks that can only be called dues ex machina at points.  Regardless, this film is not one to be staved aside as a sequel to a TV series based upon the superior City of God.

7/10

Read Mike Massie’s review here!

The Special Features:

Disappointingly, City of Men is released only with a sparse and somewhat informative 15 minute making-of feature. The rest of the disc is all movie, not a single other special feature to mention.  The transfer is well done though, and one welcome change is the addition of more visible subtitles (see Mike’s review for one of his major gripes). 

2/10

Overall:

In the end though, this DVD becomes foreign section rental fodder, without a real reason to purchase it.  A striking movie like this deserved more attention, it’s a shame it didn’t receive it. 

-Siekman M.D.