How far can it be argued that your chosen films provide a realistic representaion of the people and places they focus on

     City of God is based on a realistic representation of life in the favelas in Brazil. The narrative spans three decades, from the 60's to the late 80's. The director Fermando Merielles tried to make this film as realistic as possible to show a true representation of the slums and favelas.
     One way in which he did this was through the usage of unknown actors. Merielles discussed how he cast the film largely with non-actors, mostly young males, who were discovered in Rio De Janeiro in various favelas. Whenever he gave them the script, instead of giving them dialogue, he would tell them the intentions of the scene/sequence and allow them to improvise, only about 30% of the film was actually scripted.
     Within the favelas, violence is a common occurrence, stats show that one person dies every 90 seconds in Rio De Janeiro, 90% of these deaths are by shooting. During the scene where Goose has sex with Shortys wife, Shorty resorts to violence, by beating his wife to death with a shovel, it reflects the behaviours within the favelas, providing a realistic representation of the people and the place City of God focuses on.