1216. Bus 174

Bus 174
2002
Directed by Jose Padilha and Felipe Lacerda

There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, we are now wading through the murky waters of obscure films that lurk at the end of the List. I remember this from last time, and I am pretty sure I sold my first born to obtain a copy of Too Little, Too Late. I should really check on that. Bus 174 is one of those movies that isn't widely available, but I happened to stumble across a copy online. So I get to celebrate by diving into police corruption in Brazil.

In 2000, Sandro do Nascimento held passengers on a bus hostage for four hours. The event was caught on live television, and the film contains much of this footage. The perpetuator was from a poor background, and  the remainder of the documentary examines what life is truly like in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. 

Well, that was certainly moving, to see a real life hostage situation take place. Thankfully, the body count is low. I wouldn't put it past this List to make us watch a snuff film one of these days. Anyway, I had never heard of this event before, so it was illuminating hearing so many accounts of police brutality.  

We took a short break, but we are back to the emotionally traumatic films. 

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Voted one of the ten best films of the year by New York Times.

Directorial debuts of the directors.