Brazilian Cinema and City of God

Todorov's theory of eqilibrium can be easily seen reflected in City of God. According to this theory, disequilibrium arrives after equilibrium which then paves the way for new equilibrium. As the movie begins, there is peace. However, it is soon disrupted soon after the massacre by Lil Dice that occurs within the brothel. There is soon an eventual downfall of the members of the "Tender Trio" as they are all killed off within the preliminary stages of the film. The sense of equilibrium appears again once the transformation of Lil Dice to Lil Ze occurrs. Although he used years of violence to get to where he his, he has achieve peace in the City of God. Finally at the end of the movie, everything is restored, but the director shows little children walking away from the camera talking about killing someone they dislike because they are the ones in power now due to the recent death of Lil Ze. The static shot is visible in the frame due to the deep focus, which allows the audience to take in all the action they just witnessed only to see the cycle is repeating itself all over again.

Narrative enigmas, otherwise known as unanswered questions that mislead the audience, is one of the many techniques seen in City of God. This hypothesis can be made based on prior knowledge that is gained from the film's most significant occurrences. This is done through the audience's knowledge coming into account and predicting what is likely to happen. Tiago and Benny's race can best exemplify this. From what we know about Lil Ze and his associates is that they kill for what they want. When Tiago arrives, he almost seems like a burden and the way Benny chases after him is not a good sign. However, nothing happens at the end. Although it is expected that the race is going to end with Tiago suffering, the exact opposite happens; Tiago and Benny's encounter later results in a unseen friendship. This misleading scene shows that the characters in the story are always not as they may appear to the audience.


Diegetic narrative devices include newspapers, photographs, music, and T.V. interviews. The incorporation of newspapers and photographs show the blend of the world's vioence in the rest of society. Rather, it shows the desire to be separate from this world of violence. Rocket, in a way, is dependent of the society's crave for this knowledge of the less known violent society due to how he gets a job as a photojournalist as well as lose his virginity. Additionally, the film has a blend of 70s music with almost no music at all. The music playing at Benny's farewell party brings all the different groups in the city together, which can signify the significance of culture in modern society.