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Okay so I know I should have seen this as soon as I was old enough, but I just never got around to it until now. I love gang movies so I thought I should check this out finally. Also when they are based on true stories that intrigues me even more. To see how the world is around me or before my time had gone about things is rather compelling. I see a few of the actors in this also starred in Blindness which was also directed by Fernando Meirelles. I also like that the novelist who wrote the book this is based on has a cameo here.
Lil Ze has to be one of the craziest psychopaths in the world. I swear he is an incarnation of pure evil through his actions and attitude. It's quite interesting to see all the fundamentals of making a drug empire. To think that the acting is really good from all these young people in their first roles is quite amazing. One thing I have noticed is that most of the crimes in poverty stricken areas are caused by teens and children rather than adults. To think a lot of criminals in the world such as the ones depicted here are young or started off as teens and children is an intriguing nightmare of reality. It's all portrayed so well too. The violence here is graphic and intense and is displayed with relentless realism that you sometimes wonder if this is just a movie or a documentary.
I think the cinematography is stunning and different from many things. It really makes you feel like you are kind of there somehow. This movie is a very serious depiction of a chaotic drug lord's enterprise yet there was one scene I actually thought was kinda funny in a dark way. That ending was intense and brutal just like the rest of the movie. To think this was only a snippet of all the ruthlessness that goes on in that area is so eye opening. This was really well made and gripping. I couldn't turn away no matter how I felt about some of the things that happened. If you are a film connoisseur you have to include this in your film bucket list. I should have gotten to this much sooner, but it was still worth the wait. It seems that even after 13 years this film still fits well in our time.
