The screen turns on. The voice of the commentator speaks of incidents in the crowd, confusion and pepper spray: it is the story of the funeral of Notorious B. I. G., in March of 1997. Even before the start of the film, City of Lies forces us to confront a bitter reflection of past and present, between United States and Italy, between the needs of control and large crowds gathered in tight spaces.
Even in those distant 90 years there was talk of crimes linked to rap: B.I.G. was killed just a few months after Tupac Shakur, his former friend turned worst rival. Two facts of blood on which, after more than 20 years, has not yet been made bright light, in a web of lies and red herrings in the midst of that City of Lies. The book from which the film is based on is called The Labyrinth, with the capital letters to indicate Los Angeles, and the feeling is actually being in a maze full of dead ends and without an output defined. The film is based largely on the performance of the actors Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker, but fans of rap will be especially thrilled by the times when the screen appears Voletta Wallace, mother of rapper of Brooklyn, to portray herself and her eternal struggle to uncover the truth about his son's death.
City of Lies collects new ideas on unsolved cases of Biggie and Pac and tells the investigative cases human dimension parallel to that of the people who are still investigating. But the reason why I recommend the vision is its testimony on the role that the rap and its stars have now assumed in global society. Even dramatically, when rivalry and huge economic interests are paid in blood.
The deaths of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. were of huge losses from an artistic point of view. Both disappeared before they were 30 years old, they had time to leave an amazing legacy on which rappers of 2019 continue to build. Interested in the truth about their end does not mean chasing justice through the courts or guilty by whisking in the electric chair. It means seeking the historical moment of "beginning of the end" of the golden age of rap, and try to prevent the seeds of violence and stupid, blind greed continue to generate casualties among us and among our listeners.