City of God? This is anything but. This is a graphic and visually stunning film covering three decades of the lives of residents in one of Rio de Janeiro's most dangerous neighborhoods, the "City of God" slum. A housing project created in the 1960s slides into disrepute and by the1980s is completely in the grip of violent drug-running street gangs.

The City of God is more the main character than merely the setting. The film spares us none of the place's dark secrets, as it follows a number of residents and their criss-crossing paths. Two of them are central to the story: Rocket (Luis Otavio as young Rocket, Alexandre Rodrigues as the older Rocket) grows up too sensitive to become a villain, and is an aspiring photographer. Lil Dice (Douglas Silva) also has an ambition, to become the most feared criminal in the city. We follow their fortunes throughout the years, as Rocket tries to resist the pull of the criminal life and find a way to become a professional photographer, and Lil Dice, now known as Lil ZÈ (now played by Leandro Firmino da Hora), becomes a ruthless villain fighting to retain control of his domain.

This is a world of endemic and endless daily violence, and a seemingly casual disregard for the value of life. Children as young as eight-years-old carry guns and use them. Life expectancy is short. There is an acceptance that this is the way things are, that this is a section of the population doomed to repeat this lifecycle of violence.

However, the filmmakers have crucially not forgotten to allow some light in. All along we see glimpses of the humour, exuberance, and humanity of the characters. The film spends some time outside the slum, at Rio's beaches, illustrating how sad it is that such worlds exist in such close proximity and that these young people have to return to the slum at night. There is hope for escape.

Benny (Michel de Souza Gomes as young Benny, Phellipe Haagensen as the older Benny), Lil ZÈ's partner in crime, finds love and renounces the violent lifestyle. Rocket gets his internship at a newspaper, where he is inspired to document what goes on in his neighborhood.

Though some viewers may find the relentless MTV-style pacing and camerawork disorienting, and the story might have benefited from fewer characters, the image-bombardment style and multiple interwining plots have a deliberate cumulative effect, namely to immerse us in this chaotic and mesmerizing cauldron of violence, death and struggle. We see what these people go through, and how many have to go through it. This is imaginative and challenging filmmaking.