City of God- End Scene Analysis

 

The end scene is crucial for exploring and presenting the ideological themes of the film such as escapism ,urban life and the changing nature of it's crime. 

Towards the end of the film, Rocket begins to see light at the end of the tunnel in terms of his escape. Through use of mise-en-scene we are put in a professional office environment which reveals major hope for our antagonist as we haven't seen outside the city before,  however the cool toned lighting which looms over the present day is still prevalent. Finally, in relation to Rocket's escape, he gets another camera from a photographer he looks up to. This can be seen as symbolic for his journey, however Rocket is not the one character upgrading his weapon- Both gangs buy guns from the police yet Lil Ze doesn't pay for them. And thus the "beginning of the end" scene commences and the City Of God is transformed into a war zone. 

In the closing scene, we are brought back to the opening scene which enforces the cyclical narrative. The upbeat traditional Brazilian music is playing, we see an extreme close-up of the knife and a close-up of food being prepared. There is a shot, reverse, shot of a chicken being prepared and the other chicken's close-up, yet the footage which seems to be the same as in the opening is rushed through with quick cuts and the same low angle shots to add to the claustrophobic feel. The movie cleverly rushes through these shots as they know the audience has already seen them. The climax begins when the two dichotomy symbols of the gun and the camera are interlaced. As Rocket takes Lil' Ze and his gangs picture, instead of hearing a shutter button, we hear and see a gunshot- perhaps insinuating that a camera is just as much of a weapon as a gun which becomes evident towards the end of the film. The diegetic noise of the gun shot is used to offer this commentary, 

This is where the bloodshed begins. A shot reverse shot is utilised to reveal it was Knockout Ned who fired his weapon. From this point onwards, the shots begin to feel more like documentary footage, as more hand held shots are used with a lot more camera movement. subsequently, we are not aligned with Rocket through VoiceOver anymore, rather immersed in the story of the gang war, since Rocket is focused on capturing it. In this way, he has already escaped the City of God. The shoot-out is captured with shaky movement which adds a sense of realism for the audience. There is an overwhelming use of diegetic sound with an array of different diegetic gun shot noise; exhibiting the extent the violence has reached. 

There is echoes of the Tender Trio as Lil' Ze and Thiago hold up the truck, only a more extreme version once again connecting with the themes of violence and urban life. Another shot that reminds us of these ideological themes is Otto's story, which is told in conjunction with an eerie and intense drone note as well as his lines being delivered almost reverberated or ringing for dramatic effect. The cinematography is quite low saturation and it's edited n slow motion. This highlights who Knockout Ned is to Otto- a cold blooded killer. This allows the audience to see not only Ned, but all of the violent characters in a different light due to the element of realism added here.

After this, the screen goes dark and the next shot is introduced with a fade. There is no non-diegetic or diegetic noise, insinuating the shoot-out is over. The camera is hand held and moves around all of the lifeless bodies to really hone in on the theme of violence and it's extent. the editing or shots aren't stylised here, and the sense of realism re-occurs. 

The focus is shifted towards the end of the film towards the media and how powerful it can be. This is introduced with the documentary-type footage, and explicitly mentioned by the police who claim Carrot to be "a present for the media. It's also seen with the p.o.v shots from Rocket capturing the police corruption as Lil' Ze pays them to let him go. This adds a layer of depth to all the mindless violence which introduced the theme of poverty and inequality. Our protagonist has to chose what photograph to use- one which will make him famous and will make him money or one to use as a weapon against said inequality. 

Rocket captures his money making piece thanks to the runts. From the beginning of the shot, which is slightly zoomed in and claustrophobic, the runts slowly drift into the shot, from the top of the stairs which created a power dynamic through a high/low angle and suddenly all around him. The audience knows they are finally going to be given satisfaction after being denied a Carrot versus Ze scene. Rocket captures Ze's brutal death, and decides to use this picture and take the easy route. 

The last scene offers closure- an upbeat ornamented melody plays as Rocket walks towards his future, and the Runts drift back into the City of God- making a kill list- inferring the cyclical nature of violence stemmed from poverty life in the favelas to urban life in the city, becoming more and more brutal.