Section A Exam Question

How far can it be argued that your chosen films provide a 'realistic' representation of the people and places they focus on? [35]

The film I have studied does provide a 'realistic' representation of people and places within 'City of God'. 

During the documentary 'Favela Wars' (2003) a young child from the favela's in Rio De Janeiro is being questioned on the crimes he has committed in the prison where he is serving his sentence. You hear him say "I saw the other guys do it, so I did it too," this provides a realistic representation of how life is like within the favelas, as well as the youth's descent into violence. 

This reality is shown within the scene of Lil Ze forcing Steak and Fries to shoot a runt. An over the shoulder shot is used to capture Lil Ze walking towards Steak and Fries telling him what he is going to do. A low angle is used to show Steak and Fries walking towards the runts  with the gun in his hand, showing his power. A wide shot is then used to capture him lifting the gun, pointing it towards one of the runts. A zoom is used to go from a mid-shot to a close-up of Steak and Fries is used to capture his pained and scared expression. Diegetic sound of Lil Ze urging him to shoot one of them, a wide shot captures him moving his gun towards the right and shooting one of the runts. Steak and Fries needed to kill one of them, if he wanted to live, showing that in the favela's you need to kill or be killed. 

A descent into violence can also be seen within La Haine, through the use of shot reverse shot of Vinz and Said sat in a park on the outskirts of Paris- captured using a wide-shot-, a wide shot of used needles and drug packets on the floor and then back to the original wide shot, representing a direction the youth can take- a descent into violence.