City of Men

After I had watched City of God a few years back, I naturally assumed that City of Men could potentially be an interesting movie.

The movie tells the story of two best friends, Acerola and Laranjinha, before they turn 18. Laranjinha is determined to locate his father while his family discourages his search. Acerola, an orphan, supports Laranjinha and starts the search and to help to identify Laranjinha's father.

The friendship suffers a huge break when Acerola discovers that he has been an orphan because Laranjinha's father had killed his father while trying to rob a restaurant. Together with a war between the rival drug lords for a hold of the hill, their friendship becomes compromised.

Rating: 2 out of 5 fairy clouds. While the movie makes reference to their childhood and strong bonding, I find it hard to totally comprehend with dire exasperation of people living in the slum. You feel pitiful and sympathize with their hardship, hopelessness and chaos living in such an environment. You leave the cinema feeling sad instead of inspire by their perseverance to keep trying for a better life. It is a real shame.