'City of God' a brutally powerful portrait of hell

"City of God" is the best foreign film this year. Scratch that, it's one of the best films, period.\nThe film focuses on the journey of Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), a young boy with aspirations of being a photographer, growing up amidst the poverty and violent desperation of the slums of Rio de Janeiro circa 1960-80. He and his peers are drawn into a life of drugs and crime, and loyalties are tested as a cataclysmic gang war swells to climax. The film obliterates any concept of rivalry, showing that in order to be the best, you have to be willing to kill, steal and rape to get it. There's not a moment's peace as everyone's life is touched and forever altered by violence. Pretty it ain't.\nFernando Meirelles' direction is impeccable. He takes Brazil's signature cinema themes of brutality, desperation and poverty (evident in films like 1981's "Pixote") and ups the ante to a level most films are afraid to tackle. Few words can do the cinematography justice. Every scene is brilliantly crafted and envisioned, filtered through an uncompromisingly meticulous lens. The acting is supreme, each character has depth and stands out from their fellow cast, though L'il Zé (Leandro Firmino da Hora) is so ruthless he'll make your blood run backwards. \nThe story is told through a series of backtracking vignettes, each breaking off and interconnecting with the next. Everything comes full circle, and what we're left with is a beautifully woven tapestry of violence and struggle told as prose through the jarring reality of a photograph, assailing the senses with every frame. Though the film is highly stylized, it never strays from reminding the audience that this is a way of life and did actually happen.\nNot for the faint of heart, "City of God" is incredibly difficult to watch at times. The brutal vision of children wielding guns like it's their birthright, being tortured and murdered, killing each other in the streets with a disheveled smile will haunt viewer's thoughts long after walking out of the theater. Certain scenes will stick whether you like it or not, but that's the power of this film: It's so unflinchingly honest and brutal that it commands respect.