Review: "City of God" is a Stunner (Happy B'day, Fernando Meirelles)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 97 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Cidade de Deus (2002)
English title: City of God (2003)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brazil; Language: Portuguese
Running time: 130 minutes (2 hours, 10 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong brutal violence, sexuality, drug content and language
DIRECTORS: Fernando Meirelles with Kátia Lund
WRITERS: Bráulio Mantovani (from a novel by Paulo Lins)
PRODUCERS: Andrea Barata Ribeiro and Mauricio Andrade Ramos
CINEMATOGRAPHER: César Charlone
EDITOR: Daniel Rezende
COMPOSERS: Ed Cortês and Antonio Pinto
Academy Award nominee

CRIME with elements of drama and thriller

Starring: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge, Alice Braga, and Luis Otávio

At the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, Miramax picked up the American distribution rights to Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles’ blistering 2002 film Cidade de Deus. The film went on to earn four Academy Award nominations, including one for Meirelles’ direction although the Academy decided that his co-director Kátia Lund had not contributed anything substantial to the filmmaking narrative and did not also recognize her with a nomination.

Released under the English title City of God, the film covers a period of roughly 15 years from the late 1960 to the early 1980’s in the Cidade de Deus housing projects in Rio de Janeiro. A boy named Rocket (Luis Otávio) watches as his older brother and other neighborhood youths get involved in crime, especially the drug trade. Before long many of them, including Rocket’s brother are dead. Years later, an older Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) is struggling to become a news photographer, while an old associate, Li’l Ze (Leandro Firmino da Hora), rules the drug trade in most of Cidade de Deus, but he’s running up against an old rival, which leads to a long and bloody street war.

Brutal and unflinching, City of God may draw comparisons to Pulp Fiction, but the former is shot in a raw documentary style that mixes music video style editing and long contemplative shots. When I say brutal and unflinching, I mean it, although this film isn’t as hard to watch as the D-Day landing in Saving Private Ryan. Still, the violence, despair, horror, cynicism, selfishness, betrayal, and poverty are hard to take. The miracle of this darkness is that Meirelles often makes it so alluring, not in that sort of glossy Hollywood way, but in a way that could make you feel that this is real and not some movie fantasy. The thing that most impressed me is how Meirelles is so able to create a sense of impending, sudden, and brutal violence in even the most benign scenes and settings. That goes a long way into creating verisimilitude – in making the film’s setting seem so real, and the drama so visceral and potent.

Based upon a true story, this film is so unlike anything else. Hell, it’s a film where even the “heroes” are sociopath, or at least seem so. For lovers of cinema, this is a film not to be missed. Beyond opinions about the subject matter, director Meirelles’ effort is one of the top directorial feats of the last few years, in particular when one accounts for the fact that he used so many amateur actors and was still able to stay true to the drama.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards: 4 nominations: “Best Director” (Fernando Meirelles), “Best Cinematography” (César Charlone), “Best Film Editing” (Daniel Rezende), and “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Bráulio Mantovani)

2003 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Editing” (Daniel Rezende); 1 nomination: “Best Film not in the English Language” (Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Mauricio Andrade Ramos, and Fernando Meirelles)

2003 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (Brazil)

2004 Black Reel Awards: 1 win: “Black Reel Special Achievement - Foreign Film” (Miramax Films)

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2011 BFI London Film Festival Begins Wednesday, October 12th

SHORTLISTS AND JURIES ANNOUNCED FOR BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS

DAVID CRONENBERG & RALPH FIENNES TO RECEIVE BFI FELLOWSHIPS

London – 4 October 2011: The 55th BFI London Film Festival is delighted to announce the shortlists and juries for the 2011 Festival Awards, supported by MontBlanc, which will take place at LSO St Luke’s on 26 October.

At this year’s ceremony, the BFI will bestow its highest honour, the BFI Fellowship, on David Cronenberg and Ralph Fiennes. The original and provocative Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg is internationally renowned for films exploring the darker impulses and inner lives of his characters. His distinctive films have gone beyond the science-fiction genre and have had a powerful and enduring influence on contemporary filmmakers. His impressive list of credits includes The Fly, Videodrome, Scanners, Naked Lunch, Crash, Eastern Promises, The History of Violence and premiering at this year’s festival, A Dangerous Method. David Cronenberg said "This is a monumental, in fact overwhelming, honour, and my being the first Canadian to receive it makes it all the sweeter. British cinema has been a potent inspiration for me, and to be associated with this particular group of filmmakers is tremendously exhilarating."

Ralph Fiennes is one of Britain’s pre-eminent actors, who has achieved a singular career in which he manages to command equal respect among theatre-goers, lovers of art-house film and audiences for international blockbusters. With Coriolanus, featured in competition in the Berlin Film Festival 2011 and selected as a Gala screening in this year’s LFF, he has made a bold and critically well received transition to film directing. In addition to his portrayal of Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, his extensive acting credits include The End of the Affair, The Reader, Strange Days, Spider, Quiz Show, The English Patient, The Constant Gardener and Schindler’s List. Ralph Fiennes said “I’m extremely honoured and delighted to be given this fellowship by the BFI”

The Best Film Award, presented in partnership with the festival’s headline sponsor American Express, celebrates original, inventive and distinctive filmmaking in the festival. The initial shortlist was drawn up by Artistic Director Sandra Hebron and the programming team, and will be judged by the Oscar-nominated director John Madden, Emmy and Golden Globe winner Gillian Anderson, the BAFTA-winning writer and director Asif Kapadia, Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning producer Tracey Seaward, writer Andrew O’Hagan and the Turner Prize-nominated YBA and film director Sam Taylor Wood OBE.

This year’s shortlist is:
360, Fernando Meirelles, UK/Austria/France/Brazil
THE ARTIST, Michel Hazanavicius, France
THE DEEP BLUE SEA, Terence Davies, UK
THE DESCENDANTS, Alexander Payne, USA
FAUST, Aleksandr Sukurov, Russia
THE KID WITH A BIKE, Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Belgium/France/Italy
SHAME, Steve McQueen, UK
TRISHNA, Michael Winterbottom, UK
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, Lynne Ramsay, UK/USA

The award for Best British Newcomer is presented in partnership with Swarovski and honours new and emerging film talent, recognising the achievements of a new writer, producer, director, actor or actress. This year’s jury comprises the BAFTA-nominated actress Anne-Marie Duff, actor Tom Hollander, producer and director of the National Film and Television School Nik Powell, Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning producer Andy Harries, Radio 1 and Channel 4’s Vue Film Show presenter Edith Bowman and Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning producer Stephen Woolley. Jury chair Andy Harries said "Tomorrow's UK film business is all about the young and exciting talent that is emerging today. There's loads of it and the annual London Film Festival remains a brilliant showcase for really great new actors, directors and producers to shine.”

The shortlist for Best British Newcomer is:
Nick Murphy, Director, THE AWAKENING
Tinge Krishnan, Director, JUNKHEARTS
Candese Reid, Actress, JUNKHEARTS
Nirpal Bhogal, Writer/director, SKET
Aimee Kelly, Actress, SKET
Tom Cullen, Actor, WEEKEND
Chris New, Actor, WEEKEND
D.R. Hood, Writer/Director, WRECKERS

The Jury for the prestigious Sutherland Award, presented to the director of the most original and imaginative feature debut in the festival includes Turner Prize nominee Phil Collins, producer Andrew Eaton, director Joanna Hogg, BAFTA-winning director Peter Kosminsky, actress Saskia Reeves, Hugo Grumbar, managing director (International) Icon UK Group, and film journalist Tim Robey. Peter Kosminsky said “I'm absolutely thrilled to have been asked to join this year's Sutherland Jury by the BFI. The support of the BFI London Film Festival is a vital lifeline for new filmmakers struggling to achieve visibility in a crowded cinematic world. I am delighted to play a small part in assisting new talent to break through in this way”.

The previously announced Sutherland shortlist is:
CORPO CELESTE, Alice Rohrwacher, Italy/Switzerland/France
ETERNITY, Sivaroj Kongsakul, Thailand
HERE, Braden King, USA
THE HOUSE, Zuzana Liová, Czech Republic
LAS ACACIAS, Pablo Giorgelli, Argentina/Spain
LAST WINTER, John Shank, Belgium/France
MICHAEL, Markus Schleinzer, Austria
MOURNING, Morteza Farshbaf, Iran
SHE MONKEYS, Lisa Aschan, Sweden
SNOWTOWN, Justin Kurzel, Australia
THE SUN-BEATEN PATH, Sonthar Gyal, China
WITHOUT, Mark Jackson, USA

Joanna Hogg said “'I love the BFI London Film Festival. It's a thrill and a privilege to be judging The Sutherland Award.”

The Grierson Award for Best Documentary, a partnership between the Grierson Trust and the Festival, recognises outstanding feature-length documentaries of integrity, originality, technical excellence or cultural significance. The Award is presented in commemoration of John Grierson. Two-time BAFTA winner Adam Curtis will chair the jury, which also includes documentary filmmaker Kim Longinotto, Mandy Chang of the Grierson Trust, and Charlotte Moore, Head of Documentary Commissioning at the BBC.

This year’s shortlist is:
BERNADETTE: NOTES ON A POLITICAL JOURNEY, Lelia Doolan, Ireland
BETTER THIS WORLD, Katie Galloway, Kelly Duane de la Vega, USA
THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975, Goran Hugo Olsson, Sweden/USA
DRAGONSLAYER, Tristan Patterson
DREAMS OF A LIFE, Carol Moley, UK/Ireland
INTO THE ABYSS: A TALE OF DEATH, A TALE OF LIFE, Werner Herzog
LAST DAYS HERE, Don Argott & Demian Fenton, USA
WHORES’ GLORY, Michael Glawogger, Austria/Germany

On chairing the Best Documentary category, Adam Curtis said “It is a great privilege and I am really looking forward to watching all the films and I am also hoping that somehow the films will help me make a bit more sense of what is happening in the world at the moment because frankly not much else on television or the cinema is doing that at present”.

About the BFI
The BFI is the lead body for film in the UK with the ambition to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive by:

• Connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and World cinema
• Preserving and restoring the most significant film collection in the world for today and future generations
• Investing in creative, distinctive and entertaining work
• Promoting British film and talent to the world
• Growing the next generation of filmmakers and audiences

The BFI London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival champions creativity, originality, vision and imagination by annually showcasing the best of contemporary world cinema, documentaries, shorts, animation and experimental film. The BFI London Film Festival is a highly regarded and anticipated event in Europe's cultural calendar, attracting leading international filmmakers, industry professionals and the media together with large public audiences to London for a two week showcase of the best in contemporary world cinema.

Last year's Festival hosted 201 feature films and 112 short films from 68 countries including 34 world premieres. There were 629 filmmakers in attendance, drawing the highest ever audience attendance of over 132,000 filmgoers. The Festival opened with the European Premiere of NEVER LET ME GO and closed with the European Premiere of 127 HOURS.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/
www.bfi.org.uk/lff

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Review: "The Constant Gardener" is Constantly Good (Happy B'day, Rachel Weisz)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Constant Gardener (2005)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany/UK
Running time: 129 minutes (2 hours, 9 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, some violent images, and sexual content/nudity
DIRECTOR: Fernando Meirelles
WRITER: Jeffrey Caine (based upon the novel by John le Carré)
PRODUCER: Simon Channing Williams
CINEMATOGRAPHER: César Charlone
EDITOR: Clair Simpson
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/THRILLER/ROMANCE

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Bill Nighy, and Pete Postlethwaite, Donald Sumpter, Hubert Koundé, Archie Punjabi, Gerard McSorley, and Samuel Otage

Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) fell in love with his wife, Tessa (Rachel Weisz), when she first confronted him after a speech at a diplomatic conference. Tessa followed the Justin, a member of the British High Commission to Nairobi, Kenya and became his wife, but she remained a dedicated human rights and peace activist on her own, fighting for the health of poor Africans. Eventually, Tess is found brutally murdered, and her companion, a local doctor (Samuel Otage) and close friend of Tessa’s, appears to have fled the seen of the murder

The gossips in the Quayle’s personal and professional circle think this was a crime of passion. Justin’s colleague, Sandy Woodrow (Danny Huston, in a fine supporting performance), and Justin’s superior at the British High Council, Bernard Pellegrin (Bill Nighy), assume that Justin will leave the matter of Tessa’s murder to their discretion and instead, tend to his passion – the lovely gardens that surround the Quayles’ home in Nairobi.

Much to their chagrin, Justin begins his own investigation, and nothing will stop him from uncovering the truth, not even rumors of his wife’s affairs. But this is a conspiracy much larger and more dangerous than he can imagine, involving giant, multi-national pharmaceutical companies, assassins for hire, and the continent of Africa – rife with civil war, starvation, corrupt governments, and deadly epidemics.

Based upon the best-selling novel by John Le Carré, The Constant Gardener delivers on the promise shown by director Fernando Meirelles in the Oscar-nominated, City of God. It’s a riveting suspense thriller full of conniving agents, evil corporations, and British accents. Its complicated web of bribes, handshake deals, and murder ensnares the viewer with engaging characters in a thrill delivery system that pays off like crack and makes you want more – credit to screenwriter Jeffrey Caine. Meirelles is clever and imaginative with the way he uses camera angles, movements, focus, subject, structure, etc., making the most of the possibilities afforded him by a good script.

But what’s most surprising here is that there is a rather poignant and engaging romance film that weaves through of the scheming and deceptions (keenly embodied by Bill Nighy, a master of playing sly, bold, and cultured bad guys) – basically a political thriller seen through a romance. Meirelles expertly balances this, making the romance as entrancing as the suspense. Through flashbacks that increase the narrative flow and enhances the intensity of Justin Quayle’s search for his wife’s murderers, Meirelles insures that the film’s advertising tagline, “Love. At all costs,” is damn true.

It helps to have a good cast, in particularly strong leads. Rachel Weisz is beautiful, charming, and sexy as the passionate activist. She gives Tessa Quayle an exuberant quality that makes the early stages of Justin and Tessa’s love a bubbly affair. Later, she makes Tessa a proud and strong woman who looks out for her man and for the world, but retains a shy vulnerability that makes us believe she really needs Justin, wants him, and loves him.

Ralph Fiennes is the master of the upper class gentleman characters, always involved in dangerous or controversial love affairs, usually with women who aren’t in his social class or social circles. There is, however, truth in his performances that we can see in his facial expressions and in his eyes. You can buy his characters’ passions; they are real where a lesser actor would make such an affair seem contrived. For some reason, I can believe that this man will be true to his love at all costs, and that’s what sells this poignant drama and gripping whodunit – the thing that takes a good film one step up to the next level.

9 of 10
A+

Monday, January 30, 2006

NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Rachel Weisz); 4 nominations: “Best Achievement in Editing” (Claire Simpson), “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Alberto Iglesias), and Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” (Jeffrey Caine)

2006 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Editing” (Claire Simpson); 9 nominations: “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (Simon Channing Williams, Fernando Meirelles, and Jeffrey Caine), “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Alberto Iglesias), “Best Cinematography” (César Charlone), “Best Film” (Simon Channing Williams), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Ralph Fiennes), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Rachel Weisz), “Best Screenplay – Adapted” (Jeffrey Caine), “Best Sound” (Joakim Sundström, Stuart Wilson. Mike Prestwood Smith, and Sven Taits), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Fernando Meirelles)

2006 Golden Globes: 1win: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Rachel Weisz); 2 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Fernando Meirelles), “Best Motion Picture – Drama

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