“The Fight Rages On” returns to the famous favela

Although its maker thought it was “a small, low-budget film from Brazil,” 2002’s City of God had an enormous, lasting impact.

“COG” was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Director (producer and director Fernando Meirelles). Set in a favela in Rio de Janeiro, the film was inspired by true events and is now one of the greatest films in world cinema.

“City of God: The Fight Rages On,” which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on HBO (in Portuguese with English subtitles), is set in the same neighborhood, 20 years after the original.

Why has “City of God” remained so alive?

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Meirelles, 68, said in English in a Zoom interview. “I mean, I made this film because I was very involved in the story and these unknown actors.”

“I was an unknown director making my first film. Of course, I didn't expect the response. It really came out of nowhere!

“It came last because the story is still relevant – and the film is still listed in the top 20 films of all time on IMDb. I'm very surprised. I never expected this. This was just a low-budget Brazilian film.”

Many characters return in the series and are played by the same actors, including Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), the photographer who documents the many deaths – and whose haunting images make him famous, successful and ambivalent.

Among the most striking characters is the vicious, deadly and unforgettable Jerusa (Andréia Horta), aptly nicknamed “Crazy,” a frighteningly skilled killer who plans her boyfriend’s drug trafficking.

“All the characters in the show are based on people we've read stories about. Or we've met them. Or they came from the movie. So Crazy is fictional, of course,” said Meirelles. “She's based on a lawyer who's married to a drug dealer.”

“She switched sides and decided to support him, with the intention of becoming the head of the drug trade in the community. We have plenty of carte blanche for that.”

“The whole series, everything that happens, the events, the dynamics,” he stressed, “are inspired by people's accounts of things, newspaper articles and facts.”

When the film was released, its violence was controversial and shocking. Has our perception of violence changed in the last 20 years?

“Unfortunately, we are used to violence today – and maybe we even want to see more violence. 'City of God' tells a violent story. But if you look closely, you can see that it doesn't contain even a tenth of the violence that we see in TV movies today.

“In 'City of God' I didn't give anyone three milligrams of blood. You see people lying on the ground, but no one has a bullet explode in their face. There is no such excess of violence.

“It’s much less drastic than we’re used to.”

“City of God: The Fight Rages On” airs Sunday on HBO