City of Men
City of Men can be viewed as a companion piece to 2002's City of God, the documentary-style account of life amid the lawless backstreets of Rio de Janeiro directed by Fernando Meirelles - who has often collaborated with City of Men director Paulo Morelli. The films also share two of their actors, Douglas Silva and Darlan Cunha, who last time were 11-year-old boys, and are now 18-year-old 'men': Ace (Silva), married and with a newborn son, and Wallace (Cunha), who is searching for his own father. Both are gangsters, and when violence erupts in their neighbourhood, the two friends find that they are caught on opposite sides. City of Men lacks the snarl of City of God, but that is not to its detriment - the purpose of this movie, after all, is not so much to expose the horror and violence of slum life, as to work out how relationships (particularly friendships and the bond between father and son) can continue to survive in such a setting. This it does with warmth and an arresting candour.
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