In America, so-called epidemics often give rise to new and
interesting artforms. The crack era produced
not only gangsta rap, but “hood” films as well.
The earliest “hood” films were among the most notable and successful. Memorable though they were, they often exuded
a certain level of xenophobia. They
seemed to assume that poverty, racism, and street crime were uniquely American phenomena. However, a trip to any number of foreign countries
quickly proves such notions wrong. On
this very weekend ten years ago, a powerful film revealed just such a place
when it premiered at that year’s Cannes Film Festival. It showed life in a Brazilian favela, and
told a generational tale of the criminal factions that warred in its streets. Its title was Cidade de Deus, but it’s now better known to American viewers by that
title’s literal English translation: City
of God.
