Title: Bus 174
Year: 2002
Poster: Bus 174.jpg
Plot Summary:
Documentary depicts what happened in Rio de Janeiro on June 12th 2000, when bus 174 was taken by an armed young man, threatening to shoot all the passengers. Transmitted live on all Brazilian TV networks, this shocking and tragic-ending event became one of violence's most shocking portraits, and one of the scariest examples of police incompetence and abuse in recent years.
Review:
I've just watched this movie & it's an excellent documentary. The subject initially seems to be about the hijack of a bus and the negotiations with the hijacker. However, the documentary really turns towards the upbringing and events in the life of the hijacker and the incompetence of the regular Brazilian police.
What you learn of when you watch this movie is the desperate lives of the street kids and their invisibility in Brazilian society, their struggle to exist and petty criminal acts. You also learn of the Candelaria massacre when a group of kids sleeping rough in front of a city church were shot by a group of men including policemen ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candelįria_massacre ) and the hijacker Sandro was there. The hijacker was living on the streets for years when he ran away from home after seeing his mother get stabbed to death in the store she worked at (or owned - this isn't made clear).
The police don't know how to control the hijack situation and their first mistake is not establishing a cordon, which then allows the public and camera crews to surround the bus. There's no effective radio communication between the police and the commanding officer is receiving phone calls from a higher authority (the mayor, or his boss) not to shoot the hijacker because of the live tv presence.
Spoiler, but if you read of the story on wikipedia or somewhere else you'll find out anyway and it doesn't ruin the movie.Spoiler:
Recommended
Rating: 8 out of 10
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