The aim of this essay is to discuss the ideas of ‘cosmetics of hunger’ and ‘cosmetics of violence’ in relation to the movie City of God. The 2002 Brazilian film City of God was directed by Fernando Meirelles and co-directed by Kátia Lund. The plot is loosely based on real events as written by Paulo Lins in the novel of the same name. It depicts the growth of organized crime in the neighbourhood of the Cidade de Deus, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro between the 1960’s and 1980’s. The film was a worldwide success, receiving four Academy Award nominations in 2004. In order to discuss the ways in which the movie relates to the ideas of ‘cosmetics of hunger’ and ‘cosmetics of violence’, I will begin by explaining the cinematic movement of Cinema Novo
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Cinema Novo, as described by Robert Sklar, was ‘the most prominent film movement to arise as part of the cinema of liberation in Brazil.’ It developed in the early 1960’s through the production of young filmmakers such as Nelson Pereira dos Santos and Glauber Rocha. The films of this phase deal typically with urban and rural social problems such as starvation, violence, religious alienation and economic exploitation. The movement was inspired by the Italian Neo-Realism for its use of non-professional actors and location of shoots. ‘Aesthetics of hunger’ was an important idea of Cinema Novo, firstly mentioned by Glauber Rocha in his 1965 manifesto ‘Ezteyka de hambre? In which he says ‘the hunger of Latin America is not simply an alarming symptom: it is the essence of our society. [Cinema Novo's] originality is [Latin Americans'] hunger and our greatest misery is that this hunger is felt but not intellectually understood.’ These films should not only treat hunger as a theme but also be hungry in the means of their production. This involves the use of non-professional actors, hand-held camera shots or the use of …show more content…
Glauber Rocha’s films of Cinema Novo were designed, as I mentioned before, to ‘violate the viewers’ perception’ (Bentes p.123) and make them feel uncomfortable. In City of God, gruesome scenes of blood and murder are limited and often left for our own imagination. An example of this is the scene were Shorty murders his wife after he discovers her affair with Goose. The only image we see is the raised spade, while the rest of the act is hidden. This step towards the ‘cosmetics of violence’ has made the movie more appealing to a wider
Cinema Novo, as described by Robert Sklar, was ‘the most prominent film movement to arise as part of the cinema of liberation in Brazil.’ It developed in the early 1960’s through the production of young filmmakers such as Nelson Pereira dos Santos and Glauber Rocha. The films of this phase deal typically with urban and rural social problems such as starvation, violence, religious alienation and economic exploitation. The movement was inspired by the Italian Neo-Realism for its use of non-professional actors and location of shoots. ‘Aesthetics of hunger’ was an important idea of Cinema Novo, firstly mentioned by Glauber Rocha in his 1965 manifesto ‘Ezteyka de hambre? In which he says ‘the hunger of Latin America is not simply an alarming symptom: it is the essence of our society. [Cinema Novo's] originality is [Latin Americans'] hunger and our greatest misery is that this hunger is felt but not intellectually understood.’ These films should not only treat hunger as a theme but also be hungry in the means of their production. This involves the use of non-professional actors, hand-held camera shots or the use of …show more content…
Glauber Rocha’s films of Cinema Novo were designed, as I mentioned before, to ‘violate the viewers’ perception’ (Bentes p.123) and make them feel uncomfortable. In City of God, gruesome scenes of blood and murder are limited and often left for our own imagination. An example of this is the scene were Shorty murders his wife after he discovers her affair with Goose. The only image we see is the raised spade, while the rest of the act is hidden. This step towards the ‘cosmetics of violence’ has made the movie more appealing to a wider