Both Kassovitz’s La Haine (1995) and Meirelles’ City of God (2003), utilise distinctive techniques in order to present ideas of power, poverty and conflict, as well as to reflect their urban environments in a particular way. Both directors present conflict between the poor and the powerful through a range of powerful micro and macro techniques to create films which expose the problems related to urban areas, and the context that each was set in, which contributes to getting the messages of their films across and thus has a greater impact on the audience. Both films represent the conflict between the poor and powerful through institutions overpowering the individual in the urban environment. This is clear in City of God, as the police are prejudiced …show more content…
This is fundamentally clear through the scene where Knockout Ned’s brother confronts Lil’zee and tries to stab him, which results in his death through the rhythmic sound of the gunshots firing at his body and in the house, which has the effect that the powerful in the urban environment appear to be indestructible because of their use of violence. This scene is effective as it progresses the narrative forward as now Knockout Ned is a part of the opposition against Lil’zee, despite him believing that violence is necessarily the answer. Yet, as the film progresses, his rage progresses and Meirelles perhaps emphasises that violence will always be a part of the urban environment as it is clear that in the favelas there was a 444% homicide rate in 1989 reinforcing this dog-eat-dog …show more content…
This is notably clear through the ending sequence in City of God, where the civil war is situated in the middle of the street through erratic camera movements, making the audience feel like they are involved in this war rather than spectators. Furthermore, this idea of conflict is key through the shot reverse shot of Rocket in the middle with Lil’zee on the left and the police on the right. The message this scene communicates is that although violence may be associated with the urban environment, it does not mean the youth there, in particular, choose this lifestyle of crime. Therefore, although Meirelles has no experience living in the favela, he reiterates justice through Rocket and the prop of the camera as a motif for escapism. As well as that, Shorty’s apartment scene is another example of this conflict, identifying a power struggle as the use of fading in and out has the effect of Meirelles exploring that there will always be a power struggle in the urban environment because of the lack of governmental
The urban setting can instantly be recognized as an antagonist to anyone who faces it. The imagery of the city reveals its formidable nature. The
Anderson may seem like a travel novelist in his writing, but far more is being critiqued in his research. Notably, he is using the ethnographic methodology of research, in which he, through observation, describes a “conceptual picture” (Anderson, 1998, 65). Anderson is analyzing the effect of violence in the social structure of the neighborhoods along Germantown Avenue, and how its effects are visible in the actions of individuals on the street. For one to understand violence it is necessary to understand where violence occurs and, specifically, what in the environment allows violence to occur. Anderson is successfully explaining the transitions of one neighborhood to another, at the same time he is evaluating the normative behavior of the people interacting with the environment of the neighborhood.
In the film, symbolism was everywhere. In the beginning of the film, the pictures of the city were in black and white and dull shades, giving the city a gloomy look. The camera angles made the cars in the city appear tiny, and the buildings appear very large to symbolize how small everything was amongst the city. The interiors of the office buildings and the panic symbolized that there was no way out. The soundtrack of the film was symbolic to the tension of the film. The darkness of visual composition of the lighting in the film, symbolized the darkness of the human nature in the story.
Throughout the article “The Code of the Streets,” Elijah Anderson explains the differences between “decent” and “street” people that can be applied to the approaches of social control, labeling, and social conflict theories when talking about the violence among inner cities due to cultural adaptations.
To escape the invented world that is presented to society, creating a more critical distance is necessary. Instead of allowing the media to use civilization, understanding the meaning and effect it has on them will enhance their perception. This directly correlates to Super Sad True Love Story, in which the populace has to grow through a collapse to fully grasp what is wrong within its society. Similar to The Truman Show, as Truman tries to escape Christof’s manipulations, he is blocked at every turn. The movie hinting to the viewers that they have to take a mental journey to secure their freedom. These cases are evident in the issue of the Paris attacks, reported in the article “Does Paris Matter More Than Beirut?” as the only people that are wondering why Westerners do not seem to acknowledge Beirut are critics. The media therefore draws society in, able to easily deceive and manipulate. As a result, the illusions created by the people ought to be escaped solely by
Gang violence is a very serious downfall living in Chicago. In two articles written by Mark Guarino, “Behind Chicago’s High-Crime Summer: Persistent Street Gang Violence” and “In Chicago, Can Community Involvement Combat Gang Violence” he adds how Chicagoans are severely alarmed by the series of murders there are due to gang violence, including the death of an innocent eight year old girl who was caught between a heated gang war while playing outside (Behind Chicago 1), while adding how a gunmen approached a car and started shooting and killed a 20 ...
These crime-ridden communities (or ghettos) are springing up all through the country, mainly in and around major metropolitan areas. These areas are the most populated, so that means that within these areas are the most people there to be influenced by the crimes committed by fellow people. In Male's reading he shows statistics that prove the fact that once the poverty factor is taken away then teen violence disappears. He later adds, “That if America wants to rid of juvenile violence than serious consideration needs to be given to the societally inflicted violence of raising three to 10 times more youth in poverty than other Western nations.” (Males p386)
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...
By simply review, I will say, "City of God" ("Cidade de Deus") is the story of a boy who lives in a "favela" what is the word of slum in english on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The "favela" is like a shantytown witch called "Cidade de Deus" in the film. And from the beginning to the end, throughout this stylish movie both the boy and the favela grow.
Just how it shows when the power falls into the hands of the group, the terror arise and the violence as well. When they are looking for the stranger it show how the family has no power of the situation and the individuals take control of the situation by showing the family they aren’t playing any games. They show them knifes and the chainsaws through the camera, and they give them a time period. The demand that is exposed in this part shows how the issue is no joke and they are not playing games. When the family runs out of time it gives them the under hand and the power stays with the group of people.
Race has always been a large part of cinema. The way movie directors and producers make other races out to be in movies like City of God, can be disturbing. Though the movie depicts the truth about some parts of the world, the way it portrays black youth as savages who kill and do drugs couldn’t be farther from the truth. Just because something like this goes on in one part of the world does not mean that all black youth are like this.
This film captures this class distinction without subduing the atmosphere through the use of a variety of cinematic devices. “A good film is not a bag of cinematic devices but the embodiment, through devices, of a vision, an underlying theme” (Barnett, 274). The audience can see this theme of the realities of the oppression, poverty and despair of this time period through the use of the things mentioned, but also through the character development that is driven by the character’s hopelessness. Each of the characters associated with the lower class is motivated by the conditions, which are viewed through the cinematic devices mentioned above: color, spherical lenses, long shots, and high angle shots. Sources Cited:.
The director Antoine Fuqua vision for this film was to bring that intense love-hate relationship onto the big screen and showcase it for the world to see. To ensure a convincing film setting, Fuqua shot on location in some of the most hardcore neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Fuqua also wanted to show the daily struggles of officers tasked to work in the rougher neighborhoods of cities and how easy it can be to get caught up in a street life filled with killers and drug dealers. Overall the film displayed the city of Los Angeles in a different perspective. One which m...
Ruberto, Laura E., and Kristi M. Wilson. Introduction. Italian Neorealism and Global Cinema. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 2007. 7. Print.
In the opening scenes of the trailer, already the audience is exposed to the dystopian atmosphere of chaos, social anarchy and oppression. This is promoted by short fast paced montages and high angle shots of the swarmed streets, close angle shots of people in terror and military forces. This also conveys the magnitude of chaos this “dilemma” has caused. A short scene of the main protagonist Robert struggling through the crowd has also been visually constructed to enforce to the audience that he is the main character of this movie. The visual construction of this scene is utilised by a close up slow motion focused shot on Will Smith with the background blurred to completely draw the audience onto him. What is more unique is that this combination of effects acts as an inference that Will Smith is the solution or only hope in settling this anarchy as he swiftly makes his way through the congested street. The explosion of the bridge also informs the audience the narrative is set in New York implied by being a landmark of the city. Already in the exposition, the visual conventions have provided an engaging and well informed construction of dystopian qualities and information about the plot itself.