Crime equals Fame 

All countries in South America were colonized by Spain expect for Brazil, which was colonized by Portugal. These countries share another thing in common; they were all fighting for their independence in the mid to late nineteenth century. During this time period many “moviemakers” obtained their ideas from Spanish literature and plays. Only the greatest parts of their culture where produced for the big screen.  As the iberamerican filmmakers realized that they had goals of reaching the international market, the ideas of the film market started to broaden. After wars of independence had been fought in the South American countries, filmmakers started producing films that showed honor in fighting for what one believes in. This liberalization of iberamerican film has continued to change the values and culture that are now being shown to the world. Brazil and Ecuador have seemed to be embracing andpossibly glorifying crime in their films in recent years. Is being a criminal the same as being a celebrity? Well by watching the City of God and Crónicas films, it appears that they are very close, if not the same thing.

According to Kevin Matthews, “Several participants in the panel discussion on Brazilian cinema disputed the notion that violence is a particularly prominent feature of contemporary Brazilian cinema.” This concern is shown very clearly in the film City of God. By using two brothers that must grow up in a dangerous neighborhood, the film shows how making a career choice can have a huge impact on your life. Everyone wants power or influence in his or her life to some degree. The only difference is that there are some people willing to do whatever it takes to gain the power.

 City of God is a film that shows how powerful the culture in the ghettos or slums can be for a child growing up. The children in City of God do not have a choice but to accept the drugs and guns that are associated with everyday life. In the film, Rocket is the younger brother to Li'l Zé who is running a drug empire. Rocket has dreams of being a photographer, but in order to survive in the City of God he must succumb to certain things that are looked at as a part of everyday life. Rocket becomes friendly with a group that finds pleasure in smoking marijuana. This is seen as a crime in some countries, but in other countries or cultures, this is seen as a part of everyday life.One might be more or less influenced to smoke depending on the morals or legality of the issue, which differ from country to country. Another huge issue this film reveals is dealing drugs.By showing how much power and “fame” Li'l Zé has in this film, it is in a way glamorizing drug dealing. Is that good for the youth in this world? It is proven that the more a person is around a certain activity by seeing or hearing, the more they will tend to act in that manner. So, should filmmakers show how much power the king of a drug empire has, or should they focus more on the hardships of pursuing this sort of career? Mimesis and catharsis are the best examples of this argument. There has always been an on going argument of what and what should not be shown to society since the time of Greek philosophers (Looking At Movies). Does it or doesn’t it influence people? Maybe because that argument focuses more on the psychology of watching a film, it varies from person to person. City of God does make a point to show the danger also related to running a drug dealing empire, which helps to even out the good and bad in this film. Perhaps exaggerating these hardships a bit, in the middle of the film a once law-abiding citizen, Handsome Ned, seeks revenge because of the rape and beating of his girlfriend. Handsome Ned becomes involved with drugs, guns, and murder.  Towards the end of the film there is another drug dealer shown being arrested. The crooked police humiliate Li’l Zé, but then let him off for an amount of money. In the end Li'l Zé is shot and killed by a gang that felt the need to gain revenge for a member of their gang that was killed by Li'l Zé. So no matter how much power Li'l Zé had, he died because of the path he chose to take.

Crime is also shown in the film Crónicas. More internationally recognized crimes, such as rape and murder, are the subject of these films. The crimes in this film include rape and murder. These two crimes seem to become more and more popular today in reality and film. Crónicas also brings the issue of how powerful the media is in today’s time. In this film a Miami reporter, Manolo, has traveled to Ecuador to investigate this criminal that is raping and murdering children in a village. Manolo enters a town that is on the verge of killing the man Vinicio who accidentally hit a child with his vehicle. Manolo saves the man’s life because he thinks it will make a good story for his new program. Manolo does this so that he will look good on T.V., not out of the goodness of his heart. This comes back to the issue of power. Manolo is hoping to get one good story in order to progress in his job. Manolo then uses Vinicio for information on the murders that have been occurring. Vinicio will give Manolo information in exchange for a news report on his wrongful imprisonment. Although Manolo has plenty of evidence about Vinicio’s murdering, he does not turn it to the police. He thinks he can do more justice through a story than they can through action of the state.

A lot of the issues in this film explore how people’s morals are starting to become less important to them. This reporter was having such a power struggle that he committed a crime. It is illegal to hold evidence. Manolo believes that Vinicio is the murderer of all the children, but he is so busy trying to prove this himself that Vinicio get released from jail before the police find out that Manolo is holding evidence that could be used to prove that Vinicio is guilty. “An examination of journalistic ethics, the film explores the willingness of the media to surrender its morals for a shot at fame and profit”(themoviebox). The film also questions who the real criminal is,” the criminal, the media, or our society?”(themoviebox).

The South American countries, according to Gaberila Martinez, “to a greater or lesser degree these populations have intermingled, creating a racially and culturally diverse continent.” Even though it may be very diverse, Brazil and Ecuador seem to agree on crime. Both of these countries have liberalized their cinema by showing this part of their culture. Brazil even went as far to base City of God on a true story. These films also seemed to bring in more modern uses of editing and color techniques. This helps to show that iberamerican filmmakers are putting true effort into modernizing their works of art. While these movies may be liberalizing, they are also continuing to bring the traditional argument of mimesis and catharsis into their films, which may be said for almost all thiller/crime themed films. Other cultural aspects that both of these films hit on is the diversity of culture and beliefs that are shared in both societies. Both of these films do a great job of showing how their countries are beginning to liberalize. Before the independence wars were fought, only the best parts of culture were shown; however, today the tougher parts of culture are being brought to the surface in films. Through this and by using much more modern editing these iberamerican filmmakers are really reaching out to the rest of the world.

Works Cited

Barsam, Richard. Looking At Movies. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2007.

"City of God." Department of New Media. U. .

"Cronicas." TheMovieBox.net. Apr. 2009 .

Martinez, Gabriela. "Cinema Law in Latin America: Brazil, Peru and Columbia." Jump Cut. Apr. 2008 .

Matthews, Kevin. "Brazilian Cinema Reborn." UCLA International Institute. 02 Nov. 2005. Apr. 2009 .