City of God

“If you run, the beast catches you; if you stay, the beast eats you.”

Buscapé (Alexandre Rodrigues) grows up in the Rio favela Cidade de Deus in the 1970s, wanting a camera and a way out. The boys around him want guns, and Dadinho (Douglas Silva), who becomes Zé Pequeno (Leandro Firmino), wants the whole neighborhood. Fernando Meirelles shoots it fast and close, with a handheld camera that runs through the alleys alongside the kids.