The film tells the story of two young teenagers "defying" their parents, teachers and the rest of the world, trying to find the true meaning of their own lives.
Both the boy and the girl don't get much attention at their respective homes, so they notice each other during the performance of a school play. Then, they find themselves together at detention, beginning their friendship, which leads to a plan to escape from their oppressive reality.
Director Gerardo Naranjo, also screenplay writer, does a poor job trying to express the feelings of a misguided youth. The movie itself is developed at such a slow pace, that it was necessary for them to give some action to the scenes by actually shaking franticly the camera side to side, and then taking the blue of the sky, to avoid the viewers from falling sleep after the first hour.
The main defect of the story is that nothing actually happens. The characters are too young, too naive and to fool to actually accomplish anything. Roman, the boy, even he is only about 15 years old, proves nothing but to be an alcoholic and a coward who runs quickly to save his own skin, leaving Maru, the girl he uses to satisfy his little macho ego, on her own after every obstacle they face during their quest.
While Fernando Meirelles did a marvelous job portraying the extreme excitement and eagerness of teenagers when they do their first sexual endeavours in Cidade de Deus, Naranjo's attempt is blunt and careless.
One last mistake arises when we think they story is placed in Guanajuato, medium sized but internationally known city in the arts and culture scene, while the characters' speech, thinking and accent correspond to low income areas of Mexico City - Naranjo is not able to detach his own background from the screenplay and the result is the story is out of context.
Photography and music were more promising, but by themselves can't keep the film afloat.
Both the boy and the girl don't get much attention at their respective homes, so they notice each other during the performance of a school play. Then, they find themselves together at detention, beginning their friendship, which leads to a plan to escape from their oppressive reality.
Director Gerardo Naranjo, also screenplay writer, does a poor job trying to express the feelings of a misguided youth. The movie itself is developed at such a slow pace, that it was necessary for them to give some action to the scenes by actually shaking franticly the camera side to side, and then taking the blue of the sky, to avoid the viewers from falling sleep after the first hour.
The main defect of the story is that nothing actually happens. The characters are too young, too naive and to fool to actually accomplish anything. Roman, the boy, even he is only about 15 years old, proves nothing but to be an alcoholic and a coward who runs quickly to save his own skin, leaving Maru, the girl he uses to satisfy his little macho ego, on her own after every obstacle they face during their quest.
While Fernando Meirelles did a marvelous job portraying the extreme excitement and eagerness of teenagers when they do their first sexual endeavours in Cidade de Deus, Naranjo's attempt is blunt and careless.
One last mistake arises when we think they story is placed in Guanajuato, medium sized but internationally known city in the arts and culture scene, while the characters' speech, thinking and accent correspond to low income areas of Mexico City - Naranjo is not able to detach his own background from the screenplay and the result is the story is out of context.
Photography and music were more promising, but by themselves can't keep the film afloat.
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