The final game of the central and southern European football season climaxed with the Champions League final in Lisbon 0n May 24th. And just when you thought it was safe to switch the televison on again, on June 12th the World Cup begins in Brazil. This World Cup has proven to be controversial in a country where poverty, lack of education and less than adequate public services have angered the people as the the government spends millions on this month long event. A tragedy of mixed emotions as the country lives and breathes football and has turned the sport into an art in itself. But this post is not about football as such, it’s about street art, São Paolo resident Paulo Ito’s street art – and one particular image that grinds your stomach and makes you stop and think, a piece of art that is so powerful that it becomes reality.

It’s also about film and music but this is Brazil, football is always looming in the background. One of the great films of the last decade was Cidade De Deus 2002 (City Of God) directed by Fernando Meirelles and set in Cidade De Deus a favela (slum) suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Cidade dos Homens (City Of Men) followed in 2007 directed by Paul Morelli and was based on a Brazilian TV series, a spin off from the original Cidade De Deus movie. Great gritty reality films about life and death in the poverty stricken gang neighbourhoods of Rio de Janeiro. I have been to São Paolo and Rio de Janeiro and I will never forget the disturbing contrast between the bikini babes of the Ipanema beach and the families of street beggars on the other side of the road as the giant statue of Jesus looks on. The favelas of São Paolo visible as you land at the airport are terrible corrugated shanty towns. Still, when I was there, I bought a football. Investigate the art, listen to the music and watch the films.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_God_(2002_film)

This is the poster for the Cidade De Deus (City Of God) release:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Men_(film)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_men

This is the DVD cover for City Of Men:

To see more and find out more about Paulo Ito’s street art go here:

http://eng.partizaning.org/?p=5289

If you would like to investigate further, here are some videos on the issues in Brazil:

http://7online.com/sports/5-biggest-world-cup-controversies/73691/

And for an article in The Guardian, go here:

 http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/02/world-cup-2014-brazil-football-trauma

If you are interested in Street Art you can investigate further here:

http://www.widewalls.ch/10-best-cities-for-street-art/

To read the In Deep Post on Banksy’s trip to New York, go here:

http://indeepmusicarchive.net/2013/10/banksy-artists-residency-new-york-october-2013/

Most of the music on the soundtrack album to the City Of God movie was composed by well known Brazilian film music composer Antonio Pinto and Ed Cortes. Other singers appear, Hyldon, Raul Seixas, Tim Maia, Wilson Simonal and Cartola. Investigate the soundtrack here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antônio_Pinto_(composer)

To watch the City Of God film on You Tube with English subtitles go here: