City of God Opening Scene Analysis
The opening scene of City of God immediately establishes the fast pace and chaotic tone of the film in general through rapid-fire editing. The first thing we see in the film is the screen cutting from black to a close-up shot of a knife being sharpened, which immediately tells the audience that this film will be violent. The film does this repeatedly as fast paced samba music fades in, increasing the pace of which the film cuts from the black screen to the knife, immediately increasing the adrenaline of the audience and preparing them for the film. Even the title screen, which remains on screen for only 3 seconds, is not still, as it includes both a fast zoom out, as well as shaky cam. The music finally fades all the way in, just as it is established as non-diegetic, as we see it being performed by villagers, with others dancing. The film swiftly cuts between this and other people cooking, as well as defeathering a chicken that had previously been killed. Not only does this continue t