Analyzing Evil: Lil Zé From City Of God

Hello everyone and welcome to the one hundred seventh episode of Analyzing Evil! Our feature villains for this video is Lil Zé from City of God. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for watching. If you have any feedback or questions feel free to let me know below!

#cityofgod #evil #brazil

[fahimalvi]

I’m glad you covered Lil Z. He’s probably the most realistic portrayal of a gangster I have ever seen. In real life gangsters aren’t anywhere close to honorable movies or tv shows make them out to be. They are selfish, vile and greedy who thrive in violence. I knew someone like him during my high school years. He was shot alongside his brother in 2019.

[victor]

The fact that this movie didn't win jack shit in the 2004 Oscar Awards and yet prove to be influential and relevant to this day is one of my deepest pet peeves

[owenatkinson]

I love the depiction of Zé in the party scene as awkward and alone while Benny is loved by all. It served as a harsh reminder that he can't buy charisma or bully affection into his pocket. Zé might have been the boss, but Benny was the man.

[rafaelvieira]

The fact that most of these actors including lil Zé, was not professional actors but actual residents of the city of god favela is mind blowing, they are just being themselfes, thats one of the details that makes this movie such a masterpiece

[dexusittogs]

The scariest part about Zé is that the circumstances that made him what he was are still pretty much real.

[KaosMasterX]

After seeing this, I think you forgot to mention how much of an impact Benny had towards Lil Ze. While yes, Ze was extremely cruel/violent at a young age due to environmental factors, Benny had kept it in "check", openly showing affection towards people who were targeted by Ze's gun, and even physically lowering Ze's gun in front of everyone without consequence. Benny had also challenged Ze's murderous mentality in the film, fluidly, making it seem like he's done this plenty times before. Unfortunately after Benny's murder, a whole new level of evil emerged since nothing was there to keep it in check.

However, Benny's empathy is channeled by Ze when he encounters and acknowledges Rocket as the camera man, thus giving Benny's gift to rocket (and openly stating it in front of his gang).

If Benny had never existed, Ze would have been even more vicious then what is seen at the end of the film.

[lauramendes]

This movie is a very realistic depiction of what it is to be poor in Rio de Janeiro. I live in one of the most forgotten regions of RJ and the amount of chaos and death we see daily is absurd. Thank you for bringing this masterpiece to your channel.

[gabrielhoelzle]

What's scary about this guy is not that he is cold but that hurting people actually brings him joy. He sees killing people as eating candy o.o

[storydevice]

No foreign film has immersed me like City of God. It’s like I forgot I was reading subtitles. Incredible villain, amazing film.

[JoaoLucasK]

Something you didn't mention was how much impact Benny had in Ze's life. He was the only person Ze truly cared about, and the only person who could stop Ze from murdering people without consequences, because of their genuine friendship. Hell, when Benny gets shot and dies, the first thing Ze does is cry for help, before mourning his death. In a way, Benny was his "brakes". And after Benny died, Ze became even more of a monster and went on a warpath to take over Carrot's hood (which he couldn't do previously because Benny was good friends with Carrot). Ze treated Rocket well because: 1) Rocket was a really good photographer, which was beneficial for Ze; and 2) Rocket was friends with Benny, the person he loved the most

[sparrowprince]

Lil Ze got soft on Rocket, because of his exceptional photographic skills that made him a bonafide star. He was cool in Lil Ze’s book. Lol even in his final hours he was telling Rocket to snap a pic. Everybody liked Rocket, even the runts.

[tylers]

I know most gangsters are ranked A tier level of evil in this channel, but this is the one gangster I personally would rank in S tier.

[benwasserman]

Saw this movie back in high school. That lil psychopath has always stood with me for how young he started out as a killer.

[calvinfolan]

Ze is a truly terrifying villain, the scene where he shoots the crying kid in the foot has always stuck with me. This is one of my favourite films of all time and I think it's one of greatest films of the past 20 years.

[michelsolon]

"son of mine, do not envy the violent man nor follow any of his ways"

"filho meu, não inveje o homem violento nem sigas nenhum de seus caminhos"

-Provérbios 3:31

[billbixby]

Lil Ze is basically this film's Marlo Stanfield from The Wire...a living breathing enbodiment of the worse case result of a child...an actual Michael Myers mindset created by true slum life.

[fellipefernandes]

I'm brazilian and I'm so glad to see one of our best movies, and probably one of the baddest villans analized. Being from Rio, I can tell you guys, this movie, besides the adaptation, is like 90% real, till today.

[SaurianStudios]

Characters or real life people like these are far more terrifying than any slasher or horror villain since they very much exist in real life as the environment or life experiences they grew up in or with could very much turn anyone into a monster. Whereas characters like The Joker or Michael Myers are easy to spot, Lil Zé could be anyone, hiding or living in the real world, depending on where they grew up or live in.

[ilucasz]

The worst and most terrifying thing about Zé Pequeno isn't even that he was a real person, but that he wasn't the first like that and wasn't the last. To this day there are people like him in many, MANY favelas here on Rio, specially in CDD (City of God's brasilian acronym).

[marcello]

I would argue that Benny was the only person Lil Zé loved. Hence the flashback to when they were kids when Benny said he was leaving.

What’s sad is he didn’t know how to express it in a healthy way because he’s never been loved by anyone but Benny.