The director of the film City of God uses fast paced editing in the opening sequence. This editing technique is used when the slicing of the knives is slicing through the frame. The speedy cuts happen on the beat and also when the director chooses to cut from the knives, to the chicken, to the chef and back to the knives. The director chose to use this technique to reflect and signify the frantic pace of the character's life. The knives help signify danger and violence. Additionally, the director did this to foreshadow to the audience that the chicken (and, by extension, the protagonist) might experience danger or death if they do not escape soon.
Furthermore, the director uses a eye-line match of the chickens eye then a cut to the feathers dropping through the frame out of focus, to the feathers on the ground, and back to the chickens eye. This allows the audience to read the story through the chicken's eyes. This makes the audience feel sympathetic towards the chicken. The chicken represents the protagonist and suggests danger and death for the boy.
The director successfully uses cross cutting between the chicken escaping the favela, and the protagonist also leaving the favela. The director is linking the chicken and the boy together to imply that they are both escaping danger, and they are both escaping from being caught. However, the director also cuts from the boy walking with his friend, to the gang, this suggests that the protagonist is not like the other teenage boys as he feels separate and wants to escape from a bleak future.
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