it have be estimate that 19 percent of the population of rio de janeiro live in favelas and shanty crowd onto hillside not far from luxurious apartment and world famous beach resort . notorious breed ground for poverty and drug addiction and and gang warfare and the favelas with their picturesque street name such a dead end hill and have be the subject of critically acclaim film such a hector babenco pixote and fernando meirelles city of god . base on a long running television series that run on brazilian tv globo for four year and be watch by 35 million viewer and paolo morelli city of men be a follow up to the more flashy meirelles film . while it lack the early work kinetic energy and it be more emotionally satisfy and have character that we care about . the film focus on two friend and both turn 18 and without father . the two boy and acerola and laranjinha and ( give americanize name ace and wallace in the subtitle ) have unresolved father issue . wallace be try to locate the father he never know and ace want to find out how and why his father be kill . actor douglas silva and darlan cunha both appear in the tv series and footage from the tv series be use for flashback in the film and show in a faded color palette . both be natural actor who do a remarkable job . ace and though only 18 and life with his wife cris ( camilla monteiro ) in one of the shanty and be the father of a young boy name clayton ( vinicius oliveira ) . ace be immature enough to leave clayton alone on the beach in an early sequence but must grow up quickly and assume complete responsibility for clayton care when cris take a job in sao paolo . shoot by cinematographer adriano goldman who provide sweep panorama of the hill and mountain and and beach and the film begin on the top of dead end hill on a day so brutally hot i could feel the sweat gathering on my forehead . gang member with handgun and automatic weapon lead by midnight ( jonathan haagensen ) decide to head down to the ocean and establish a perimeter of guard who tell the cop that they be on route . the emotional center of the film be the relationship between wallace and his newly discover father heraldo play with strength and dignity by rodrigo do santos . heraldo be out on parole after have serve fifteen year of a twenty year sentence for robbery and murder . the circumstance of the murder that he commit become a central issue in the relationship between ace and wallace and secret about both of their father past threaten their friendship and lead to their involvement on different side of a new eruption of gang violence . somewhat melodramatic but never manipulative or false and city of men transcend the familiar format of hand hold camera hyperactivity and gangster clichés to become a tender and deeply affect story about abandon child and how the cycle be repeat from one generation to the next . while the film explode into warfare between rival gang lead by midnight and fasto ( eduardo br ) and it be devoid of typical heavily stylize and frenetic violence . ace and wallace be character we get to know and identify with . we want them to defy the odds and survive until adulthood though the tragic history of life in the rio slum be never far from our mind .