In 2002, Fernando Meirelles (with the assistance of Kátia Lund) directed one of the best films of this decade, City of God. Cinematic experiences are rarely as surprising, intense, and shocking as this picture. The film followed a group of kids as they grow up in one of Rio de Janeiro’s most violent neighborhoods and effects it has one them. And like any film this unforgettable, a follow-up was certain to follow. No one could have ever imagined it to be this unnecessary.
City of Men picks up right where the television show, of both the same title and which you’ve never seen, left off. It follows best friends Acerola (Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha) on the verge of their 18th birthdays. Their step into adulthood turns into a therapeutic exercise, as the boys try and discover how not growing up with a father affected their lives. Acerola (also known as ‘Ace’) is raising a kid of his own, trying to be the best father he can be, considering he’s never had any guidance from his own, who was killed during a robbery when he was a kid. Laranjinha never lived with (or even met) his father and his family want to keep his identity from him.
While the boys start to unravel that mystery, Midnight, the gangster who runs their neighborhood, is struggling to hold his authority at the top of the Hill. These two narrative threads weave back and forth until the two boys find themselves deeply involved with both rival gangs.
City of Men relates to City of God by location only. It’s not a direct follow-up to God as it is to the television program which aired from 2002-2005. So it’s no surprise that this feels more episodic in nature than as an actual film itself. Even the camera work here is dull and would be better suited on a smaller screen. Comparing these any further would severely injure the integrity of this film as its own stand-alone entity, but how can you help yourself from doing so?
The original brought so much to the table. We were exposed to children living in the most extreme situations; arming themselves to the teeth before they can even form full sentences. This was a dangerous world where you became a man straight from the womb or you simply ended up dead.
Perhaps the scariest thing about it was that true events were its inspiration. We’ve seen news clips where children in other countries parole streets with automatic weapons, but the original film allowed us to become attached to these characters, even though we knew how short their lives would be. City of Men just doesn’t bring that kind of depth to the table, nor does it come close. Imagine City of God by way of One Tree Hill and you got yourself City of Men.
