Textual Analysis – City of God Opening Sequence

• Knives – Danger
• Depicts violence
• Music – Juxtaposition – Diegetic
• Title, Forecast
• Main character
• Death, Chickens,
• Chicken – Rocket
• Chicken escaping favela
• Chicken tied up, bound
• Worried Chicken
• Malnourished chicken
• Laid back, Party Atmosphere
• Blood, foreshadowing
• Chicken Hunted
• Shooting the chicken
• Chicken chased by police car
• Narrowly avoids danger – symbolic
• Guns show danger
• Slow motion signifies important event
• Police, stand off

City of God Documentary notes

City of God – Documentary – News from a Personal War – Notes

Institutional, Cultural and Social issues

Organised Gangs

More trust in gangs than cops

Drugs – Responsible for homicides

1 Person dies every 30 mins

100,000 people – drug traffickers

Drug dealer knows he could have a straight job

Talking about police being scared

Started with old people selling drugs

Cocaine – Considered a rich mans drug

Medicine costs 3 times as much money as people have

Man spoke about how he had been arrested and escaped many times.

Dealers get paid double what normal workers get paid in a month, in a week.

Likes the life of selling drugs

Most of people caught dealing, are young and from slums

Police would take valuable items under the pretence that they were stolen

Both sides believe they are doing the right thing

Dealers are starting to get more sophisticated equipment

Dealers have night vision, cops do not

Arrest or Execute

Biggest ratio of poor to rich