City Of God

1052 Words3 Pages

In Fernando Meirelles’ crime drama, City of God, we gain an insight into the hellish life that exists within the borders of the Cidade de Deus. In fact the neighborhood is so full of crime, poverty, and hopelessness that at times it feels as though it is being filmed in an active warzone. Perhaps the most shocking aspect of this film is the fact that all the horrors of this favela stemmed from government planning. The City of God was founded in 1960, under the plan of the Brazillian government to decentralize the slums from the center of Rio de Janeiro to suburbs on the city’s outskirts. The sprawling orderly neighborhood seen at the beginning of the film was a construct of government planning, and with a blank slate the City of God had an …show more content…

Despite almost 70 years of progress across the country the favela problem is still a very pressing issue for Brazil. Nearly 6% of the county’s population exist in “subnormal agglomerations” according to the Brazilian institute of Geography and Statistics (Carneiro). That means over 11 million people reside in the slums of Brazil in terrible conditions. One in three residents doesn’t have access to sanitation facilities, nutrition is very poor due to poverty, disease is rampant, and infant mortality rates are high (Carneiro). There have been several attempts to address the favelas since the 40s but most end up exacerbating the issue by simply deporting citizens to new locations to start the cycle again. Currently Brazil has adopted a policy of walling off the favelas to discourage population growth (Sever). Brazil has also began seriously fighting back against crime in favelas, spending 1.7 billion on the security improvement in Rio ("Brazil to Spend US$ 1.7 Billion to Help Over 1 Million in Rio's Slums."). Had the permanent housing been procured and properly planned to encourage a healthy community in the 40s, it can be argued that the favela problem in Brazil today would be much …show more content…

Vladivostok existed before the communist revolution in Russia but was lagging behind modern cities with many residents lacking running water, electricity, toilets and paved streets until 1955 (Richardson). Highlighting the goal of expansion the soviet planners re-graded and paved the streets of Vladivostok, created parks and bureaucratic buildings, encouraged economic development, and built apartment buildings to increase living space by a factor of two (Richardson). All these changes to the core city, and careful planning of further expansion allowed Vladivostok to become a powerhouse for the Soviet Union. Today Vladivostok houses the Russian Pacific fleet, is the largest Russian port on the Pacific Ocean, is the home to five universities, and home to many museums. This is a success story for government planning of cities and can be looked to as one of the Soviet Union’s gifts to the science of city

Show More
Related

  • Samba Alma Guillermoprieto Analysis

    1301 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Samba, Alma Guillermoprieto describes the Carnival celebrated every year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and explores the black cultural roots from which it takes its traditions as well as its social, economic, and political context in the 1980s. From her firsthand experience and investigation into favela life and the role of samba schools, specifically of Manguiera, Guillermoprieto illustrates a complex image of race relations in Brazil. The hegemonic character of samba culture in Brazil stands as a prevalent theme in numerous facets of favela life, samba schools, and racial interactions like the increasing involvement of white Brazilians in Carnival preparation and the popularity of mulatas with white Brazilians and tourists. Rio de Janeiro’s early development as a city was largely segregated after the practice of slavery ended. The centralization of Afro-Brazilians in favelas in the hills of the city strengthened their ties to black

    Read More

  • Globalisation In Brazil Case Study

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    Globalisation has been crucial to the economic and social development of Brazil. In the late twentieth century Brazil face years of economic, political and social instability experiencing high inflation, high income inequality and rapidly growing poverty. However after a change of government in the 1990s and large structural changes in both the economic and social landscapes, the brazilian economy has been experiencing a growing middle class and reduced income gap. Since the start of the 21st century, brazil has benefitted from the move to a more global economy.

    Read More

  • Review Of "the City Of Mexico In The Age Of Diaz"

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    A growing affluent class called upon the Diaz regime and imported architects to construct buildings in the Zocalo to reflect a “proper” image that drew on influences from Europe and the United States. Johns recognizes the architectural dependence of the influential Mexicans constructing Mexico City when he states, “Mexican architecture, on the other hand, was an expression of a city run by a people who were looking to create their own culture while entirely dependent on the industry and ideas of Europe and America” (22). The same construction that the elite felt was a celebration of a newfound dignity in the Mexican people was criticized, by visitors and locals alike, as grandiose and a futile effort to shield the native roots of a circle of imposters. Johns’s argues that the “Mexicans knew little of their adopted European tradition, had acquired even less of its taste, and enjoyed none of its tranquility” (23). While the influence on the Westside led to development, the squalor and lack of authority of the peasants on the Eastside created mesones, or as Johns described them, “…a little more than ‘a bare spot to lie down in, a grass mat, company with (the) vermin that squalor breeds…’” (48). Politics on the Westside of the Zocalo were concerned little with the living conditions of the majority. No one would undertake the unglamorous task of assisting the poor, but rather they attempted to veil the masses in the shadow of their refined buildings and recent assumption of culture.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Child Of The Dark

    1884 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the favela of São Paulo, Brazil, 1958, Carolina Maria de Jesus rewrote the words of a famous poet, “In this era it is necessary to say: ‘Cry, child. Life is bitter,’” (de Jesus 27). Her sentiments reflected the cruel truth of the favelas, the location where the city’s impoverished inhabited small shacks. Because of housing developments, poor families were pushed to the outskirts of the city into shanty towns. Within the favelas, the infant mortality rate was high, there was no indoor plumbing or electricity, drug lords were governing forces, drug addiction was rampant, and people were starving to death. Child of the Dark, a diary written by Carolina Maria de Jesus from 1955 to 1960, provides a unique view from inside Brazil’s favelas, discussing the perceptions of good

    Read More

  • Poverty In Flavio's Home

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    I do not believe there is an answer for poverty because it’s such a big issue all around the world; however, it's more serious in some parts of the worlds than others. After reading “Flavio’s Home” I couldn’t understand how poverty existed in the United States as it does in Rio. America’s poverty will never compare to theirs, and the worst part is, that in other regions of the world, it's even worse. No wonder so many people put their lives at risk just to migrate to the U.S. in the hopes of a better life. People think that by migrating to better established countries than their own, it will decrease their chances of living in poverty. However poverty is just an issue that can’t ever be solved because everyone seeks more material possessions and money, which eventually runs out.

    Read More

  • Violence In Fernando Meirelles's 'Ciudade De Deus'

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    Just as the Olympics were held in Brazil, we heard on the news the constant increase of violence in children, and the even higher increment in the organized crime events in this country. But few of us understand the cold, horrific, and the traumatic experience of living surrounded by violent children in organized crime gangs, as well as the characters of City of God. The director of the movie Fernando Meirelles purposely shows us the way in which young children in Brazil learn to become violent at a young age, eventually still young get involved in organized crime gangs and their drug business, as well as in the gangs’ battles over territory and power. The director succeeded in presenting his point of view by using a different variety of movie

    Read More

  • City Upon A Hill

    1537 Words  | 4 Pages

    For the Puritans in the early New England colonies life was by no means easy, but there was the possibility to expand their beliefs free from the persecution from Church of England. They had the opportunity to create their ideal society under God with the bible as their law from which they would define how to live. The Puritans set out to create their model society which could spread and cull the impurities from the church. But how did these beliefs and goals ultimately effect their society?

    Read More

  • city of god

    2313 Words  | 5 Pages

    In my essay I will discuss the differences between national cinema and Hollywood cinema by using Rio de Janeiro¡¯s famous film City of God. There will be three parts in my following main body, the first part is a simple review of the film City of God, I will try to use the review to show the film structure and some different new points from this, show the how did the ¡®Shocking, frightening, thrilling and funny¡¯ (Nev Pierce) work in the film. The second part is my discussion parts; I will refer some typical Hollywood big name films such as Gangs in New York, Shawshank¡¯s Redemption, and Good Fellas to discuss the main differences between City of God and other national films. The third part is my summary, I will use my knowledge to analyse why there have big different between both kind of films and their advantages.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of City Of God

    1429 Words  | 3 Pages

    To watch City of God is to be forced to enter, from a safe distance, the ruthless and merciless hoods of Rio de Janeiro. The captivating and poignant film guides viewers through the realistic aspects of slum life experienced by young, underprivileged youth in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, some aspects that not even most middle class Brazilians get to see. In a city where police are fraudulent, opportunities are scarce and crime is widespread, many youths believe there is no alternative to gang activity. In City of God, director Fernando Meirelles puts to the forefront of Brazilian cinema the real issues that favelas in Brazil face like poverty, extreme violence and stereotypical gender roles in a male dominated society. City of God encapsulates the hope of Rio’s impoverished blacks for social and economic ascension.

    Read More

  • City Of God Violence

    460 Words  | 1 Pages

    (Gregoli 362) The favela known as the city of god, as a location, looks unglamorously real. There are some scenes on the beach but the familiar world of Rio is light years away.at first glance, the dreary rows of jerry built sheds look like sheds for say, refugees. It is seen in broad daylight at night, and at one stage in a glowing crimson sunset. Nothing alleviates its grimness and inhumanity at the very best it resembles a built suburb of poverty.

    Read More

  • 1917 Russian Revolution Essay

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    After their defeat in the Crimean war (1853-1856), Russia’s leaders realized they were falling behind much of Europe in terms of modernisation and industrialisation. Alexander II took control of the empire and made the first steps towards radically improving the country’s infrastructure. Transcontinental railways were built and the government strengthened Russia’s economy by promoting industrialisation with the construction of factory complexes throughout...

    Read More

  • The City of the Sun

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Tommaso Campanella’s document, The City of the Sun, a new social order is introduced amongst the Solarians. Campanella presents his readers with a utopian society that is ordered by rationality and reason. This ideal visionary is a redeemed world, free from injustice and competition in the market structure. Campanella, however, grew up in a society that was exploited and based on irrational principles. Campanella, therefore, reconstructs a society that operates in opposition to the one that he considers to be corrupt and irrational. The document, The City of the Sun, can be used to critically compare the social and political order that exists today. Moreover, Campanella’s work reveals the weaknesses that exist in today’s society and its structure.

    Read More

  • Buscape The Movie

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    He also states that “they harbored a potential revolutionary menace to the authorities.” (116 Scott). As Corbusier signals, slums are very dangerous because it can have a menace for the government as well as worse security; therefore, I believe that Brazilian government should work on the social problems of poverty, and it also has to focus on the education not make slums more, and these efforts help to be

    Read More

  • Favelas Thesis

    884 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pacifying the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro: Towards a Redefinition Clientelism in Favelas Politics Thesis Statement I would argue that the Pacification Policy implemented in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro since 2008 will redefine clientele politics in the favelas. Arias (2006) argues that drug traffic led to a two tierce clientelism where politicians deal with drugs lords, who then transmit the benefit to favelas inhabitants who will then exchange their vote. I would argue that politicians engage in dual clientelism under the pacification policy. By stepping in the favelas, the state would deal with favelas inhabitants directly by exchanging social programs against their vote, and deal with traffickers by letting them do their business as long

    Read More

  • The Eternal City Summary

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Sack of "The Eternal City" "My voice sticks in my throat; and, as I dictate, sobs choke my utterance. The City which had taken the whole world was itself taken," said St. Jerome, a theologian/historian living in Bethlehem at the time, as a reaction to what had happened. This was in his Letter CXXVII (to Principia). 410 C.E., the year that many historians believe was the beginning of the decline of the Western Roman Empire. It was the year that Rome, "The Eternal City", fell to the looting and pillaging of invaders from the north: the Visigoths.

    Read More

More about City Of God

Open Document