5. Lil' Ze/Dice in The City Of God (2002)
Lil Ze, in amazingly realistic and gritty Brazilian crime film City Of God (Cidade de Deus), is the epitome of the growth of organized crime. Fernando Meirelles attempts to portray the horrors of life in the favela of Cidade de Deus, with the increasing population of life-threatening, drug dealing gangsters. Thus emphasising the films tagline: Fight and youll never survive, run and youll never escape. Baring in mind the possibility of escaping into middle class life is very limited, antagonistic character Lil Ze (unlike Rocket) escapes the struggling reality and destructive environment by dominating it. He eventually becomes the main authoritarian figure of his leading drug gang who dominate and dictate the daily routine of the favela. After tasting the exhilarating sense of power that came from his first gunshot, Lil Ze had chosen his path of reaching the top of the criminal hierarchy as a means of survival - even if it meant sadistically killing any obstacle in his way. Ironically he was killed and taken over by the next generation of Runts as the cycle continues...
Nafissa Jeetoo
Contributor
As a one-of-a-kind twenty-something film fanatic and culture vulture... I have a 1st Class Honours degree in English Literature with Film Studies & Media Cultures. Along with recently completing MA by Research in Film Studies, I aspire to be a film critic and yearn for the opportunity to roll around on the red carpet (with or without Christian Bale in his Batsuit). Always openly embracing films of all genres and nations, although anything Studio Ghibli related will always have a place in my heart. Believes normality is overrated!
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