In an early scene from Brazilian director Paulo Morelli’s City of Men, best friends Ace and Laranjinha pester Laranjinha’s grandmother for clues about his absent father. The grandmother scoffs at the questions, asking them what good could come from a father who abandons his own child. Ace (Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha (Darlen Cunha) exchange a terrified look, run out the door and scramble through the favela shouting the name of Ace’s young son, Clayton (played by twins Vinícius and Vítor Oliveira), who has been dropped off with acquaintances somewhere in the slum. His father has no idea where he could be.
Ace and Laranjinha’s frantic quest to find Clayton reflects the film’s central themes of fatherhood and maturity. City of Men is based on the TV series that was inspired by Fernando Meirelles’ 2002 film City of God. City of Men shares with that movie its setting in a favela of Rio de Janeiro, an area of violent gang crime; the characters differ, although some of the actors return. While City of God made gang wars the centerpiece of the film, though, City of Men accepts them as a part of life in the slum and focuses on what Morelli sees as the root of the problem: absentee fathers.
As in City of God, the protagonists’ struggle to stay out of the gang cycle is a central aspect of the film. Laranjinha is about to turn 18, and itches to get his official ID so he can find a job and begin a career. In order to do so, he must have his father’s signature on a form, which provokes his paternal search.
At times lighthearted and funny, the film lulls you into thinking it could be a coming-of-age story about owning up to young fatherhood, in Ace’s case, or developing a relationship with an absent father, in Laranjinha’s case. But the favela won’t let this happen so easily. Gunfire suddenly breaks out in the stairways and cramped houses that crawl up the immense hill of the slum, creating a terrifying struggle that draws Ace and Laranjinha into the war.
The exact details of what starts the fighting, and whose side everyone is on, are a little fuzzy and hard to follow. This seems to be done on purpose—unlike City of God, where the understanding of the inner workings of the gangs were essential—so the focus remains on the outsiders struggling to stay outside. Violence seems to sneak up from behind to ruin Ace and Laranjinha’s plans to create better lives from themselves, but their dedication to their goals creates an endearing story about friendship in the worst of cases.
Silva and Cunha both starred in the Brazilian television mini-series also titled City of Men. This intimate familiarity with the characters helps the actors give stunning performances. Both were residents of the actual Rio neighborhood called Cidade de Deus (City of God) when Meirelles cast them and other neighborhood teenagers into the film, and their transition into adulthood is acted impressively.
City of Men won’t shock people as much as City of God did, because City of God introduced many people to the unbelievable violence and horrible conditions that the poorest Brazilians face. But although the eerie image of piles of machine guns against the gorgeous Guanabara Bay still haunts the screen in City of Men, this film offers a more emotional story and a chance of hope that the cycle of violence and abuse might be broken.
