City of god location context

City Of God

Location

Aim:To undertake the

importance of Location in City of God

Geographically

Rio de Janeiro

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUcdv7gqrIo&feature=related

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How does this representation of Rio contrast to that of the Favela in City of

God?

Favela• Favela is a specifically Brazilian

word for a shanty town. The majority have electricity, but in most cases it is illegally tapped from the public grid. Favelas are constructed from a variety of materials, ranging from bricks to garbage. Many favelas are very close and very cramped. They are plagued by sewage, crime and hygiene problems. Although many of the most infamous are located in Rio de Janeiro, there are favelas in almost every large or even mid-sized Brazilian town. In Rio one in every four cariocas (as Rio's inhabitants are called) lives in a favela.

Drugs in the FavelasThe Colombian cocaine trade has impacted Brazil and in turn its favelas, which tend to be ruled by druglords. Regular shoot-outs between traffickers and police and other criminals, as well as assorted illegal activities, lead to murder rates in excess of 40 per 100,000 inhabitants in the city of Rio and much higher rates in some Rio favelas. Traffickers ensure that individual residents believe they can guarantee their own safety through their actions and political connections to them. They do this by maintaining order in the favela and giving and receiving reciprocity and respect, thus creating an environment in which critical segments of the local population feel safe despite continuing high levels of violence.

How did Little Ze do this in City of God?

Brazil drug wars• http://uk.youtube.com/watch?

v=k-1Z3DfPcXw

• Do the police really have the situation under control? Discuss.

• Why do the drug gangs remain such a ‘formidable force’?

• How does the government plan to ‘solve’ the problem?

• Why do you think LouLou was seen as a Robyn Hood figure by the people?

• What are the potential problems with sending in the army?

Favelas in Rio• The best-known favelas are those in and around

Rio de Janeiro, possibly because Rio's peculiar urban geography has placed many of them up the hills that face the city's prosperous seaside neighbourhoods and tourist spots, and thus made them readily visible. They provide a dramatic illustration of the gap between poverty and wealth, juxtaposed with the luxurious apartment buildings and mansions of Rio's social elite. Several hills in Rio are densely populated by favelas. In 2004, it was estimated that 19 percent of Rio's population lived within favelas

The Wealthy

The Slums

Favela Wars• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqO

3qCgyFJ0

• What are some of the programs being run to help the young people?

• Outline the differences between the wealthy and the poor?

• How are the locals trying to help?

• Kill or be killed – How was this mantra demonstrated in City of God?

The area

• The neighbourhood of Cidade de Deus is part of the borough of Jacarepaguá, in the Western Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

• The neighbourhood was founded in 1960, planned and executed by the state government of Guanabara as part of the policy to systematically remove favelas from the center of Rio de Janeiro and settling their inhabitants in the suburbs.

Figures• Area (2003): 1.2058 km² • Population (2000): 38,016 • Residences (2000): 10,866

• Cidade de Deus (City of God), is technically not a real favela, since it was originally a government-sponsored housing community designed to replace a favela, which subsequently ran down and took on many of the very social features of favelas it was intended to eradicate.

Contrasts

• The images of poverty, violence and hopelessness are in direct contrast with that of Rio as a city of pleasure, carlival, samba and suntanned girls on the beach. Now the Favelas have become as symbolic of Rio de Janeiro as these famous beaches.

Favelas in Film and pop culture•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=latLyAI_mbU Michael Jackson they don’t care about us

A 1963 documentary, fish need to learn how to swim, marked the film debut of Gordon Parks.In his 2006 book, Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World, Robert Neuwirth reports on the time he spent in the favelas as well as in squatter settlements in other parts of the world. He focuses on some of the positive aspects of life in these places and argues that many of the problems in these communities stem not from the fact that they are poor or illegal but from the way they are viewed by authorities.The documentary Bus 174, also released in 2002, placed a focus on the poor conditions of favelas and their instigation of social stigmatization and street crime.The 2007 film Tropa de Elite (Elite Squad) shows the Brazilian elite force BOPE fighting against the druglord of the favela Babilônia, in 1997. The favela must be "cleaned" because Pope John Paul II would stay at the nearby Rio Archbishop's Residence during his visit to Rio de Janeiro.The Brazilian television series City of Men and the 2007 film version takes place in a favela.The skateboarding video game Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam has a skate course in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.One of the levels in the PC game Counter-Strike (not included with the original game and available as a separate download) takes place in a Rio de Janeiro favela.The 2000 film BMW Vermelho gives an interesting insight into the economic and cultural aspects of living in a Favela from a comedic perspective when a Favela resident wins a BMW that he can neither use nor sell. http://posters.imdb.com/title/tt0275950/In the game SOCOM II one of the areas of operation is in a Rio de Janeiro favela.The opening scenes of Marvel and Universal Studios' 2008 film The Incredible Hulk find main character Bruce Banner hiding out incognito in a densely-populated Brazilian favela, with an elaborate chase scene ensuing amid the rooftops and alleyways.

Representation of Location

• Representation is constructed through textual elements and informed by the context of a film’s production. You will need to give detailed consideration to the way in which cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound and editing function to create representational meaning within your chosen film.

• How important is the location in the film?

Film as a character

• In the film the Favela is almost like a separate character in the film. Discuss.

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Past representation of the Favelas

• The real world of the slum can be seen to exist in the use of the film’s location. It can be read as a ‘street urchin chronicle’ set in a city in the developing world and featuring non professional actors.

• Audiences and critics may approach them as sociological documents giving them an insight into the problems that the protagonists face.

Los Olvidados(The Young and the Damned / The Forgotten)

A snippet from Spanish-Mexican filmmaker Luis Buñuel classic film: Los Olvidados - winner of Prix de la mise en scène (Best Director) at the 1950 Cannes Film Festival.

In this clip some street kids led by El Jaibo harass a disabled man because he refuses to give them cigarettes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kN--3xGdAPw&feature=related

Pixote - A Lei do Mais FracoHector Babenco 1982 - Brazil

Pixote, a 10-year-old runaway boy, is arrested on the streets of Sao Paulo during a police round-up homeless people. Pixote endures torture, degradation and corruption at a local youth detention center where two of the runaways are murdered by policemen who frame Lilica, a 17-year-old transvesite hustler. Pixote helps Lilica and three other boys escape where they make their living by the life of crime which only escalates to more violence and death

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPu_cQ11Tb0&feature=related

Centro do Brasil(Central Station)

Walter Salles 1998 – BrazilDora, a dour old woman, works at a Rio de Janeiro central station, writing letters for customers and mailing them. She hates customers and calls them 'trash'. Josue is a 9-year-old boy who never met his father. His mother is sending letters to his father through Dora. When she dies in a car accident, Dora takes Josue and takes a trip with him to find his father.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIzwNX10O2w&feature=related

Orfeu NegroMarcel Camus 1959 In Rio, Orfeo is a trolley conductor and musician, engaged to Mira. During Carnival week, he sees Eurydice, who's fled her village in fear of a stalker; it's love at first sight. Her cousin Sarafina, with whom she stays in Rio, is a friend of Orfeo and Mira, so the star-crossed lovers meet again. Later, during the revels, wearing Sarafina's costume, Eurydice dances a provocative samba with Orfeo. Not only is Mira enraged when her rival is unmasked, but she is being stalked by Death: Eurydice is in danger, pursued through noisy crowds and a morgue. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyfN0cVDXj4&feature=related

Past and Present

• How do these past representations of the Favelas compare to the present?

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Authenticity

• The location filming is another contributor to the film’s perceived authenticity. Discuss.

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Modern Changes

• As with any medium the representation of the favelas has continually been in a state of flux.

• Where do you see the future of this representation going?

Favela Rising

• The 2005 documentary, Favela Rising, directed by Jeff Zimbalist, has won several awards for its daring look at life in Brazil's slums. The film focuses on the work of Anderson Sá, a former drug trafficker who establishes the music group Afro Reggae. This group aims at using music and education to better the lives of youth and prevent further growth of gangs.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OmJi8PrmEM •

Get your planners out.

Homework

• Are the locations represented within City of God presented in a way that seems to conform to the dominant social attitudes, or do they seem to challenge dominant ideologies?

• Write a response to the above question. Structure it like an essay; it should be over a page long.