A sprawling story of two boys growing up in an unforgiving Rio de Janeiro, the multi Oscar nominated City of God is one of the great foreign language films of the last decade or so: blistering and bleak, dazzling and fierce. A docudrama of sorts, the film chronicles the lives of Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) and Ze (Leandro Firmino) - among others - evolving over time to show the different paths the boys take - one becomes a feared drug dealer, the other a meek photographer. Blessed with some absolutely astonishing sequences and filled with a cast of genuine Brazilian slum-kids, City of God remains one of the most unforgettable films you're ever likely to see, as tender and ultimately hopeful as it is brutal and upsetting.
