The past continuous of “City of God”

A Brazilian film maker predicting what would be his young son’s intriguing question said: “In 20 years from now, when my son asks me: Dad, what was Rio de Janeiro or other large Brazilian cities like? I’m going to tell him: look, why don’t you read City of God, it’s all there, you know what I mean?”. The novel he mentions is the result of an extended research of the housing project above mentioned. The research took about 8 years over the organization of drug traffic that eventually started up a war in the 1970-80’s in a neighborhood named City of God in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From researching to writing and publishing the book it took a total of 10 years. Nonetheless, by the year of its publication, 1997, the book's author was so impressed by a film director’s enthusiasm and ideas that he decided to turn his book into a film as well. In one scene, a petulant boy begs for a gun that would seal his membership into a gang. He says: “I smoke, I snort, I’ve killed and robbed”, but then he finally puts a period on the talking: “I am a man”. This new recruit runs to join one of the top ranks of armed children struggling through the City of God. The cruel reality shown on the screens reveals a social currency which is still very current nowadays as well. As a result of the astonishing scenes based on real facts, the film was selected to the Cannes Festival 2002 and the Academy Awards 2004. Twelve years after the first publication of the famous book City of God, the story is still so current that there is no need for a new edition, believe me. A common sense tells us that history can be repeated, and when your son asks you “what was Rio de Janeiro or other large Brazilian cities like many years ago?”, you don't need to tell him about the book nor the film: turn on the tv and watch the local news!