Showing posts with label José Padilha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label José Padilha. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

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.