This steamy film carefully balances slick action with well developed characters and thoughtful emotion. Telling the story of two best friends who fall in love with the same woman, 'Lower City' follows on from 'City of God' in showing aspects of life in the lower regions of Brazilian society. Writer/Director Sergio Machado uses a handheld camera to capture the energy of the characters lives; strip joints, commiting crimes, fighting; and extreme close-ups to convey the intensity of the three leads' love for one another and their inability to handle these feelings.
Typically, the two friends, Deco (Lazaro Ramos) and Naldinho (Wagner Moura), are street smart and confident, happily gambling, drinking and seducing women, until they encounter the wandering strip-dancer, Karinna (Alice Braga). Her initial lustful charm captivates the men until soon all three are feeling something much deeper. Despite the friends' best attempts, their desire and apparent love for Karinna, drives a wedge between the two of them are they are pushed firmly apart. Karinna herself doesn't seem able to distinguish between the two and can't stop herself pulling them further into conflict. The film constantly shifts its focus from one character to the other as we see the emotional toil they go through, and their attempts to involve themselves in distracting activities - boxing, robberies and prostitution.
The three meet when Karinna is in need of a ride to Salvador in Bahia, a poor region of northeast Brazil. They accomodate her on their boat in return for a little cash and some sex. The next night, one of them is stabbed and Karinna is drawn into helping them, and gradually becoming more attached. First, she sleeps with one, then to even the balance she sleeps with the other, without initially giving much thought to the other's feelings. Both Ramos and Moura convey their growing jealousy well, with the characters responding with different attitudes before finally openly competing with one another. By this point it's too late for anyone to stop it.
The film is well shot, with a strong modern style, through the use of handheld cameras and bright colours. The editing is sharp and the film has a lot of energy. Despite this, there are touches of neo-realism placing the film firmly in a time and place, with scenes often occuring in the street whilst the public look on. The perfect example of this would be the ultimate fight between the two (by now former) friends in an alleyway, intercut with shots of the locals silently watching on from their windows, unsurprised by this explosion of violence outside their frontdoors. We get a good sense of the economic environment and the possibilites open to young people in this society with their only opportunities for finding money coming from robbing pharmacies, throwing fights, or sailing out to harboured ships to prostitute themselves to sailors.
The story is definitely familiar, but by transposing it to the particular environs of Bahia we get a special experience. Also, the intense sexuality of the film, not only in the explicit sex scenes but also in those tense moments between, strongly conveys the lust and desire of the characters. Not only do they lust after sex, but they lust after greater opportunities, constantly discussing getting away and starting afresh. Right at the beginning fo the film, Karinna is seen setting off almost to seek her fortune, but is immediately thrust into an existence where she relies on her body and the desires of frustrated men.
This is the ideal film for those interested in world cinema without wanting to get bogged down by anything arty. Just like 'City of God', in which Alice Braga again played the desired woman, this is a distinctly Brazilian film with international appeal. If you like sexually charged, violent, aggressive films (all the bad stuff then) with a strong humanity and sensitivity at its core - you'll definitely like this.
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