FILMS: Summer in the City of God

On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, where row upon row of identical shacks house the city's destitute, lies the euphemistically named slum from which Fernando Meirelles's Cidade de Deus (City of God) takes its name. Here, bullets and bodies are part of the landscape, and few boys reach manhood without guns in their hands, if they reach it at all. The story of Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), an aspiring photographer who manages to survive in the blood-stained streets of this forsaken city, serves as the framework for an epic in sepia, a riveting tale of greed, power and the inescapable cycle of violence. "In the City of God," Rocket explains, "if you stay, they get you, and if you run away, they get you, too."

Rocket's story is, on one level, like that of any boy coming of age in the 1970s: He is mostly concerned with hanging out with his group of friends, smoking weed and trying to lose his virginity. But Rocket cannot avoid the merciless reality of life in the City of God, and his story cannot be told without telling the story of the vicious gang violence that surrounds him every day.

Rocket narrates the stories of his brother, a reckless thief; of Lil' Ze, a young thug who grows up to become the city's most powerful cocaine boss; and of Knockout Ned, a handsome bus driver who becomes a hero, among others. The film's characters are nothing short of unforgettable, whether for their heartlessness or for their compassion, and Meirelles's unflinching treatment of brutal violence makes the true stories he tells all the more gripping.

When all of its pieces fall together, City of God presents more than just a disturbing look at a city that grooms nine-year-olds to kill - it offers a glimpse at the potential for good and evil that exists in the soul of every human being.

• Macy Parker