City Of God Opening Scene Analysis by Isaac

At the start of the film, it has a pleonastic sound which was the sharpening of the knife on a rock.  It has been enhanced in post-production as a special effect to display to the audience just how sharp the knife is and the emphasis on the knife.  There is also an extreme close up onto the knife to show that an element of the movie could perhaps have a bit of violence in it.  While the knife is being sharpened, the camera cuts to a blank screen making it harder for the audience to see the knife but the diegetic sound gets louder.  This keeps the audience under some suspense as they do not know the purpose of the knife which is being sharpened.  As the scene progresses, many crosscutting is used where many alternate shots are occurring simultaneously but in different locations.  The camera crosscuts and does close-ups on carrots and live chicken being slaughtered for their dinner.  This shows some audience members the different lives that people live since most people would go and buy their chicken.  The close ups on the people with no shoes show that the area could be very poor.  Since these people are killing their live chicken, it shows that these people are quite isolated from the lives which other people live in such as having shops where they buy their food.  The film then has a diegetic sound of drumming and music being played which is a part of the Brazilian lifestyle so shows that the movie could be set there.

 

A close up of the chicken’s ankle which was managing to escape from the rope keeping it tied up eventually fled into a nearby alley.  The diegetic sound of the drumming comes to a standstill and has an extreme close up on the chicken’s blood which is on a plate.  This is a key signifier to what the movie is going to be about, which could be about violence and blood showing that the chicken is just the start of the murders.  The next shot is a parallel one of a man giving orders for people to kill the chicken.  It then cuts to a long shot showing gang members of children all with guns chasing it, which shows that the man shouting orders was the leader of the gang.  This enhances the reality of their life since every member has a gun.  Since every gang member has a gun, it shows that they do not follow the law and that a lot of crimes happen in that area.

 

 Then crosscutting is used between two scenes, one scene where a young man wants to take his life further than those in his community and become a photographer explaining to his friend how much of a risk and jump it is to attempt to make it out of the community and the other scene is the gang leader and the gang eventually catching up to the chicken in the middle of the road.  As the gang leader was chasing the chicken, he stopped and pushed a man over who didn’t stop the chicken.  He then pulled out his gun and threatened the man.  This shows the power and influence he has on the community.  The over the shoulder shot of the gang leader goes into a high angle shot of the victim.  This shows the audience how scared everyone is of the man and the power he has over them.  The young man and the gang leader see each other however, they are on other sides of the road.  The gang leader tells the man to pick up the chicken but as he does, the gang members state that the police are there.  The long shot of some members running off but being called back and told not to run off by the leader.  They all take out their guns and point it at the police.  This shows the separation there is between the gang of the slums and the law and how they do not fear death.  The man realises that he is between the middle of the war and wonders why he is always in the middle of things.  The end of the scene occurs and leaves the audience with unexplained questions.  For example, why the man is caught in the middle and why the gang and police are at war.