Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Nothing like "Cidade da Deus" (City of God), Era uma vez... is a good movie, very realistic but with some problems of screenplay at the final. I don't know why they -the director and the writer- choose that final, is not necessary. Love story, big drama in a wonderful city with many faces like Rio de Janeiro. In this movie you can see the cruelty of the reality in a country where the injustice are so common to poor people. People live and die in Rio but if you put the attention in their faces you can't understand why they look so happy every day of their life's. I being there, in a funk party at night, and when I saw this movie I realize how unconscious was I to went there. May be because many of the people who live in the "morros" are workers and honest. If you are interest to know a little more than the wonderful beaches, women, men and the happy faces that you can see in the beach, this is a good movie to experiment how they live and how many injustice happened in our world.

Here we have a classical story of a simple hard-working poor boy, falling in love with a rich spoiled girl. There aren't many things you can do with this plot. That's because most of it have already been done. That is the classical "date movie", when two people struggle to be together in the end. People feel good about it, and even with the feeling "I think I have seen that before", people still enjoy it. Just like 10 in 10 Brazilian soap operas. Despite the dreadful edition, the movie director does a really nice job using almost all the clichés that he could remember. But what really bothered me is that you CAN make this kind of movie without getting into the Romeo and Juliet set up, when really bad choices by the characters (like "playing along" with the police) leads them to certain death. Overall it is a nice movie, but nothing beyond that. In terms of Brazilian cinema, where creativity and excellent ideas are used to surpass difficulties such as low budgets and horrible actors, this movie disappoints. Ps. Thiago Martins does a really good acting here, and Victoria Frate does the exactly same face 90% of the movie.

This is the greatest Brazilian drama movie since Central do Brasil and could be compared to Sheakspeare's Romeo and Juliet.If you live or have lived in Brazil you know that there is a lot of poverty around you and this movie portrays it really well. It shows how the rich people live next to the poor and the the barrier between both social classes. Aside form the amazing portrayal by Breno Silvera, of what Brazil is, the story really gets your attention from beginning to end. The end is shocking and realistically demonstrates what could happen in a real life situation.The actors Rodrigo Costa, who lives in the Morro do Canta Galo (where the story takes place), and Cyria Coentro interpreted their characters as if the story was real. Later, Rodrigo Costa revealed in an interview with Maria Gabriela that he lived through a similar experience when younger.

Breno Silveira invests in emotion and simplicity to build a story whose theme - economic and social inequality - is very complex and important to Brazilian society. Maybe the film is not reference for the viewer to drive down into the issue itself, but, of course, he will be touched by the story and the motivations of the characters.Thiago Martins embodies Dé with great sensitivity, bringing a bit of history of the actor, also resident of a slum, to the character. He is the soul of the movie, he makes us to believe in the history of the couple, even in the most unlikely clichés moments. One of the most moving scenes is when Dé say to Nina's ex-boyfriend, a rich guy, on its status as a worker, a seller of hot-dog. At that point we visualize the millions of underemployed poorly paid, ignored by society, surviving in precarious housing in the country.The end of the film has caused controversy. Some think outside the tone, exaggerated. I am not of that opinion. I think the final is poetic, emblematic, a request for assistance on behalf of love. Maybe some accused Breno Silveira of being naive, simplistic, but I think that is the price that he pays to be popular. We can not accuse him of lack of talent. Breno knows how to tell a story, how to reach the hearts of viewers.