The scene of "City of God" finds an aspiring news photographer in the middle of a face-off between armed police officers and even more heavily armed drug lords. It's a real doozy, to put it mildly.

Better yet, this particular sequence says what so many other films have tried to lately and failed so miserably while attempting it: Showing us that this world really is a dangerous place to live, that your life can come to an end all too quickly and that violence is sometimes just around the corner.

Make no mistake about it, this is easily one of the year's best films. "City of God" is a real adrenaline rush — at times it manages to be powerful, thrilling and funny and sometimes all three of them at the same time.

Unfortunately, this fact-based Brazilian thriller may also be something of a hard sell for some audiences. It's one of the most graphically violent movies to hit the big screen in quite some time. Not only does it feature depictions of violence against women, in one of the most horrifying scenes it shows a violent act against a young boy.

However, it's not mere exploitation. Instead, the violence is in service of a sprawling tale that requires such vivid "reality." The story takes place over the course of a decade in the so-called Cidade de Deus, or "City of God," a government-built community for low-income families outside of Rio de Janeiro.

That's where Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) finds himself. He's already seen his older brother turn to a life of crime and pay the price for it with his life. But when he sees another City of God resident, Lil' Ze (Leandro Firmino da Hora), thrive as a criminal, Rocket begins to wonder whether he should try the same path.

However, it's clear that the slight-of-frame Rocket wasn't made for that. What he'd really like to be is a photographer, especially as he witnesses the escalation in crime that has accompanied Lil' Ze's rise to power.

While the film has things in common with director Fernando Meirelles' other films, he is not merely a Quentin Tarantino wanna-be. Instead, "City of God" establishes him as an original — one of the real bright talents working in the industry and someone whose subsequent works are eagerly anticipated.

But Meirelles isn't the only emerging talent. Rodrigues has an engaging presence, and his deadpan narration lends humor to the scenes that need it. And the fiery da Hora demands his screentime and receives it.

"City of God" is rated R for the constant presence of violent content (mostly gunplay), frequent use of strong, sexually related profanity and crude sexual slang terms, simulated drug use (marijuana and cocaine), vulgarity, gore, a scene depicting rape, brief glimpses of male and female nudity, brief sexual contact, and occasional use of racial epithets. Running time: 130 minutes.

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