Dear Julia,

City of God has been in my Netflix instant queue since probably freshman year so I was glad to finally watch it. It felt kind of like a hybrid of Forrest Gump and The Wire. I appreciated the breadth of characters and multi-decade time span of the film–it wove a vivid, human narrative. If I had to critique it I would say that some of the narration felt a bit cliché at points. The protagonist was the least interesting character in the film, so a lot of what he had to say as a narrator felt a bit contrived and unnecessary. I don’t think I would have done away with the narration altogether though because that would’ve undermined the tone of the film. Beyond that, while I appreciated the direction and the cinematography a great deal–the film was vibrant and incredibly visually stimulating–but it could have perhaps been dialed back a bit. There were a few moments where the flashy style of the film undercut the power of what was being depicted. By and large though those were my only two complaints with this film. I’d definitely like to watch it again soon. by the time the film is over it leaves lot to carry around with you so to speak. It was a 10/10 wow for sure.

Love,

Robert