by Izzy Kalman (October 2005)
My good friend, Robert Kabakoff, a film buff and aspiring move actor, has been urging me to see City of God. I finally got around to it, and Rob was right. It is a phenomenal movie. It is a powerful drama about the incredibly violent way of life for kids in the in Rio de Janeiro slum known as the “City of God”l. The filming and editing were superb, as was the acting of the young actors. There is an amazing scene of a terrified chicken desperately trying to escape from gun-wielding gang members.
This movie is not for the feint-hearted. If you can’t stand realistic violence, stay away from it. While the movie is not a documentary, you know that this is really what life is like in such slums. And the sad thing is that there are many places in the world where life is just like this.
We often hear about the horrible conditions in United States slums. Compared to the slums in many other countries, ours are a Paradise. I am not saying that people should be happy in our slums because others are worse, but it should help put things in perspective.
Comments