The day Spielberg asked Fernando Meirelles how he recorded ‘City of God’

‘For me, that scene would cost a million and a half dollars!’

Launched in 2002, under the direction of Kátia Lund and Fernando Meirelles, God’s city changed Brazilian cinema forever by delivering one of the biggest and best productions of all time.

To date, it was the only national film to receive four Oscar nominations, in the categories of best director, best adapted screenplay, best cinematography and best editing.

The film, which follows the different paths of Dadinho (Douglas Silva) and Buscapé (Alexandre Rodrigues), two best friends who grew up in Cidade de Deus, a Rio favela known for being one of the most violent places in Rio de Janeiro, opened doors for international market. There, Meirelles carried out other productions and met some icons of Hollywood cinema, such as Steven Spielberg.

The meeting was not by chance, as the Brazilian filmmaker was invited to direct Collateral2004 action film starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Mark Ruffalo and produced by Spielberg.

Despite not having accepted the job, the meeting generated a brilliant pearl of the seventh art, which was shared by Meirelles in 2019, when he was a guest on the program Provocations from TV Cultura with Marcelo Tas.

On the program, he said with laughter that Spielberg took advantage of the meeting to resolve a doubt he had since watching the City of God (as it is known…

Read the article at QuandoCinema

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