Introducing Setting In Opening Scenes - 'Cidade De Deus' ('City of God')

'Cidade De Deus' ('City of God')

The second film I'm going to look at is 'Cidade De Deus' ('City of God'). 

It starts off with lots of boys killing chickens and plucking their feathers off. The camera cuts between a live chicken's reaction and the people skinning the chickens alive. 

The panicked chicken manages to escape with a group of boys chasing after it, shouting. The chickens are almost a metaphor for the characters that cannot escape even if they think they can. This shows the audience that the boys don't have any adults watching them setting an example or telling them off. We see that they don't have anyone to control the group so they think they can do what they want and law isn't a big thing as when the police see children holding guns he seems more bothered about the one trying to catch the chicken. 

This opening scene gives us a good idea about the film and the city that the people live in. It is quite easy to come up with the conclusion that this film is going to be violent and stressful for the main character. Its elements ranging from the problems of the guns to the fast editing contribute to it being hard and nerve-racking to keep up with. The opening shows the setting as poverty-stricken and dangerous.