Movement in City of God

Movement is the act of changing physical location or position. Filmmakers have a goal of transmitting a message throughout their film; therefore, they make or create meaning by extensively using the movement technique. This is how a scene is put together to produce an image. Fernando Meirelles directed the Movie City of God, a Brazilian crime drama film. City of God strikingly portrays the evolution of the city’s crime from robbing gas trucks, to a city owned by one boss, Lil Ze; leading to an all out war zone between rival dealers. Dadinho is an ambitious, heartless kid. As soon as he is old enough, he becomes a psychotic crime lord, changing his name to Lil Ze. He also grows a mustache for the occasion, marking his coming of age. Now, through the movement technique Meirelles shows Lil Ze’s transformation; his movement in the film evokes emotions and thoughts about his persona that heightens the point Meirelles is trying to make of how impulsive and malicious Lil Ze becomes. In Lil Ze’s movement there is a pattern throughout the film in which we see a specific movement, from right to left, a technique that clearly displays Lil Ze’s need to let others know he is in control.
Movements can have diverse meanings according to the book Understanding Movies by Louis Giannetti. For example there are vertical movements, upward movements, downward movements, towards and away from the camera. Also, according to this film professor, physical movements that are from right to left in this exact direction seem unnatural. As mentioned previously in City of God, there is a pattern with this kind of movement that expresses ideas of power in the hands of a senseless killer, Lil Ze. To Giannetti movements are very important in a scene, since they h...

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...echnique. The pattern noticed in City of God, is closely associated with ideas of power and authority. This helps us understand why the director makes certain decisions. In key scenes throughout the film, Lil Ze walks from right to left, and these moments are followed by someone getting hurt, ridicule, and dragged in deeper into Lil Ze’s dangerous world. All things considered, physical movements, specifically from right to left are symbolically important in City of God. The idea of control over his crew members, the children in the slums and everyone else rules when we see Lil Ze walking or even moving his head from right to left; his moment is key if we want to understand why certain decisions were made. All in all right to left movement, serves as an explanation for Lil Ze’s persona; on how the director wants us to perceive him and all the atrocities that follow.