City Of God

what is the importance of Mise-en-scene/sound in creating meaning and generating a response in the films you have studied?

In 'City of God' there is mise-en- scene of the destroyed landscape with a long shot of a cracked window on a car, polluted streets and the performance of the characters running in fear and running in a predatory manner. This is very significant because it instantly indicates that the community are living in a war zone with terror and violence, which has resemblance to urban stories but also the social issues in Rio De Janeiro. This links to the reality the film portrays of the Favela's being a war-ridden setting, showing a sustained negative image from the media which is represented by mise-en-scene of newspapers involving gang warfare in the Favelas. This gives a feeling of exclusion from the rest of society, shown by the low-key lighting and diegetic gun-shots and sirens being a continuous motif in the narrative, indicating that the community are left in the shadows. Generally this signifies a violent location and the use of a canted angle helps to reflect the corruption that is a constant recurring theme throughout the film and urban stories. A 180 degree tilt shot of Rocket being upside down, further adds to the corruption of how the situation has completely turned on its head, highlighting the issue of conflict being the ideology that runs throughout the sequence.
As the plot continues, Rocket is found catching a ride to his work which is outside of the Favela's, symbolising that he has found a life outside of his setting, showing that only some people escape exclusion. An issue addressed here is that most people in a Favela community never escape their reality and that is the reason for an absence of change. During this shot, there is an extreme long shot and mise-en-scene of Christ The Redeemer behind Rocket. This is one of the first times you can see the City of God in full view where the distance of the statue helps to show that redemption can be seen but it is out of reach. This mise-en-scene is important as the redeemer statue represents religion and a sense of catharsis, with Rocket being closest to it but still too far from it. This is extremely significant in the narrative because there is never a reference or image of Christ the Redeemer, suggesting that the violence in the community and the sinful nature creates a blockade to redemption, therefore characters like Li'l Ze, Benny, Tiago etc can never escape their harsh lifestyle.This relates to the social issues of urban stories and the idea of there never being a positive resolution.
The Closing scene of City of God is a circular narrative, which again highlights the idea that nothing will ever change in the Favela and that a smaller fish will always take over the bigger fish, represented by the mise-en-scene of Clippers vision of a fish being eaten. The mise-en-scene and diagetic sound of a knife implies the recurring contextual issue of the characters in the film always living on a knifes edge, shedding light on the real life issues in Brazil's Favela's. During the fast paced montage, there is mise-en-scene of chickens caged or tagged, which I feel relates directly to the characters such as Li'l Ze, Rocket, Steak and Fries etc. The characters being matched with animalistic connotations highlight that society treated them like animals and as much as they try to escape, they are always suffocated and enclosed in a reality that they can not escape from. This links with urban stories and how most of the actors weren't professionals and were in fact still living 'on a knifes edge' which is a defining feature in the 'City of God.'