A type of drama that focuses on issues and problems caused by modern and contemporary urban life. Often in these films, the city itself becomes a character, something that affects, changes, or hinders a protagonist as much, or more so, than any other element of the film. These films study or depict the effects of race, multi-culturalism, labor, over-population, filth, chaos, and corruption on their central characters. Because the advent of film coincided with the first major rush of people moving from the country into cities, cinema has always been fascinated with urban dramas. D.W. Griffith (A Child of the Ghetto, A Corner of Wheat), Charlie Chaplin (City Lights, Modern Times) and King Vidor (The Crowd) were just a handful of early filmmakers to probe the sudden population of American cities and the subsequent problems that followed. The city was transformed from problematic to menacing and deadly with the arrival of film noir in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Rain-swept, covered in shadows and darkness, and filled with corruption, city life trapped numerous protagonists into lives of immorality and crime in noirs like On Dangerous Ground, Night and the City and The Naked City. Contemporary depictions haven't been as homogenous. Examinations often tend to vary depending on the focus groups and the filmmaker. For example, the works of Martin Scorsese (Mean Streets), Spike Lee (Do The Right Thing, Crooklyn) and Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant) all focus on urban dilemmas and pressures but have little else in common. These, plus other films such as Dog Day Afternoon, Short Cuts, and City of Hope, prove that city life has become increasingly difficult to stereotype as time moves on.

Featured Films:

Rating	MPAA	Year	Title
	NR	2008	Filth and Wisdom
	NR	2008	Off Jackson Avenue
	PG13	2008	Step Up 2: The Streets
	R	2008	Slumdog Millionaire
		2008	A Raisin in the Sun
	R	2008	Gran Torino
	PG13	2007	How She Move
		2007	Hannah Takes the Stairs
	R	2007	City of Men
	PG13	2007	The Visitor
		2007	My Brother
	PG13	2007	Freedom Writers
	PG	2006	Akeelah and the Bee
	PG13	2006	Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion
	R	2006	Freedomland
	PG13	2006	Something New
	R	2006	Dirty
	PG13	2006	ATL
	R	2006	Half Nelson
		2006	Choking Man
	R	2006	Brooklyn Rules
		2006	1/3
	R	2006	Breaking and Entering
	R	2006	Waist Deep
	R	2006	A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
		2006	Scummy Man
		2006	Shortbus
		2006	They're Just My Friends
	R	2005	Get Rich or Die Tryin'
	R	2005	Crash
	R	2005	The Tenants
	R	2005	Lower City
		2005	Lackawanna Blues
	R	2005	State Property 2
	R	2005	Edmond
		2005	Man Push Cart
	R	2005	Wassup Rockers
	R	2005	Quinceañera
	R	2005	Green Street Hooligans
	R	2005	Game 6
	R	2004	Hustle & Flow
	R	2004	Heights
		2004	Battle in Heaven
		2004	Lost Embrace
	R	2004	Lana's Rain
	PG13	2004	Nobody Knows
		2004	Unknown Soldier
		2004	Lustre
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