When Fernando Meirelles’ 2002 film, ‘City of God’, was released, it was heralded as nothing short of a masterpiece. It was nominated for four Academy Awards including a Best Director nod for Meirelles and quickly became a “must see” on many critic’s end of the year lists. A television series was spun from it, ‘City of Men’, and, in 2007, Brazilian filmmaker Paulo Morelli took ‘City of Men’ to the big screen.

The main commonality amongst all of these stories is the setting, the favelas of Brazil, more notably, Rio de Janeiro. Drug use and gang warfare have become commonplace in these shanty towns built on hills as well as extreme poverty and problems regarding hygiene. In fact, most Brazilian cities do not even recognize the existence of favelas as legal entities.

‘City of God’ told the 20-year-long story of Rocket, a boy growing up in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. ‘City of Men’ is a story that only encompasses about a week and shows the struggle of people simply trying to survive amidst the every-impending gang wars. The film mainly follows two best friends, Acerola (Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha). Both are orphans, both are about to turn 18, and both are finding what it is like to grow up much faster than a child should have to.

‘City of Men’ is a very powerful story told against the backdrop of an unbelievable situation. There is simply no law in this part of the world, and Morelli depicts this with an unflinching eye. Much of the action is told through the hand-held camera movement that Paul Greengrass has made popular. Unfortunately, no one handles this technique like Greengrass, and it is difficult at times to tell one character from another.

Deciding to tell a more intimate and succinct story than what was told in ‘City of God’, Morelli is at times forced to move from plot point to plot point very quickly. This often results in a lack of “breathing room” for events that take place. Certain characters are dealt with without much bravado, leading you to wonder if their stories are actually over or not. The subplot revolving around Laranjinha’s search for his real father is dealt with quickly and almost seems moot.

Despite this, the film’s overall story and the way in which it is told is a very moving piece of filmmaking. The relationships dealt with are very real and, despite the nonstop violence, the actions depicted here all have very real consequences. It makes every attempt at coming out of the shadow of ‘City of God’, and, for the most part, it succeeds. All in all ‘City of God’ is a better depiction of the struggles going on in the favelas of Brazil. The documentary ‘Bus 174′ is also a very powerful story of the violent life in this part of the world. But, as far as sheer brilliance in filmmaking and a very commanding story go, ‘City of Men’ is far from failure.

(3.5 out of 5 stars)