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3 stars (out of four)

In the Dead-End Hill district of Rio de Janeiro, two young men, not quite 18, race up and down steep hills crowded with thousands of houses and thousands more piles of bricks, the symbol of a neighborhood perpetually under construction. It’s also under siege. The young men are Acerola (“Ace,” played by Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha (“Wallace,” played by Darlan Cunha). They’re caught in a gang war in the new Brazilian drama “City of Men,” which continues the story of the boys, then 11, introduced in “City of God.”

The new picture, directed by Paulo Morelli, does not try to compete with the dizzying visual gyrations and propulsive, nearly maniacal energy of the previous one, which was directed by Fernando Meirelles. “City of Men” is on the clunky side when it comes to narrative: All its variations on the theme of fathers and sons tend to be tied up in neat little bows. But in many ways I prefer the new film to “City of God.” The new one isn’t out to kill you with technique in every shot, and even if you know where the story is heading, Silva and Cunha and their on-screen cohorts bring such easy vitality to the screen, you forgive the schematics.
Screenwriter Elena Soarez wastes no time putting our guts in the grinder. In the opening scenes Ace, who has a young son, lugs the kid to the beach with his friends. Something comes up. The baby’s left alone by the waves. He’s OK, but in this straightforward fashion we learn what we need to know about Ace—that he’s too young to be a parent, barely aware of what parenthood means. And yet, through the course of “City of Men,” in which all the major characters are either fatherless in fact or in spirit, he learns more than you expect. Wallace embarks on a search for his father,   and all the while the local gang lords provide their own idea of family and community.

As the film skitters from one Rio shantytown, or favela, to another, Ace and Wallace test their loyalty and often run for their very lives. Director Morelli and editor Daniel Rezende know how to set up complex lines of action and keep the screws tight. The film does not feel new, or modish, the way “City of God” did to many. It does however, prove that stories of friendship under fire are universal, whatever the scenery.

mjphillips@tribune.com

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