City of Men (2008)

Image credit: Vantoen Pereira Jr.

TORN APART Douglas Silva and Darlan Cunha

City of Men has the electrically over¬saturated style of reality that made City of God such a searing vision of teenage criminal life in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. But this companion piece, produced though not directed by Fernando Meirelles, is as heavy with message as any Hollywood delinquent drama of the late '50s. It centers on a pair of boy¬hood pals, each haunted by his absent father, who get drawn into a gang war. Douglas Silva and Darlan Cunha make their torn camaraderie touching, but we can sense the Big Revelation About Their Past half a mile away. B-