Urban Stories Short Student Response: 'City of God'

What is the importance of mise-en-scene and/or sound in creating meaning and generating response in the films you have studied for this topic?

In City of God, there are numerous scenes which illustrate the significance of both sound and mise-en-scene in order to distribute meaning to the audience, and use textual devices and to highlight contextual issues.

Throughout the film, various events are clearly defined by textual footers that appear on the bottom of the screen (such as 'The Story Of The Apartment', and 'The Story of L'il Ze'); therefore the entire film can easily be broken down into sections, making analysis of the way that social society has changed over the course of time in the film relatively simple. The scene of 'The Apartment' is a brilliant example to convey how mise-en-scene in particular reflects the decaying culture of the City of God. The scene is shot as a montage sequence through a static camera, displaying the evolution and eventual degradation of the apartment, which succinctly represents the way that the favelas have wiped away all sense of femininity. The scene begins by explaining that the apartment was originally owned by a woman, who (it is eventually clear) was the only female ever to reside inside. 

The mise-en-scene at the start of the sequence illustrates how the apartment started out as a pleasant, cosy environment; highlighted by the high key lighting and the well-kept, seemingly comfortable and neat furnishings. This use of mise-en-scene could arguably reflect the female influence in a male-dominated society, however the scene that follows where the character of Big Boy forces the woman out of the apartment is almost a forewarning of the treatment of women throughout the remainder of the film. This would also represent the way that the real-life favelas are dominated by the choices that the male gang members have ruthlessly enforced on the inhabitants. From the moment Big Boy takes ownership of the apartment, the audience can see the gradual degradation of the apartment, such as the furniture becoming tatty and worn, the paint peeling off the walls, and the pictures of naked women lining the walls as a replacement for the more motherly influence. These pictures act as a symbol of the rise of male dominance and subsequent female objectification that starts to become increasingly apparent as the film continues whilst also reflecting the realities of human existence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Throughout the scene we see ownership of the apartment passed from Big Boy to Carrot, and then finally to Blackie, who is the current tenant when the flashback begins. Where the woman who first owns the apartment appears to be of middle-age, the tenants that follow seem to get younger and younger, which highlights the recurring theme throughout City of God of young people becoming corrupted by conflict and believing they have a duty to rebel.