More and more documentaries are getting theatrical distribution in the States. It's the area of cinema that is most concerned with important cultural events. And the recent success of FAHRENHEIT 9/11 shows that if the topic is right; people will pay money to go see docs on the big screen.
BUS 174 is a film from Brazil, which chronicles Rio's most famous hostage situation. Sandro do Nascimento was cornered robbing a bus and ended up taking the passengers hostage. The film goes into depth about Sandro's life and what led to this incident. Sandro's mother was murdered before him when he was very young. He ran away from his aunt's house soon after and lived on the streets, which pushed him into the slippery world of drugs and robbery. The film, which uses amazing news footage of the crisis, pretty much proves that Sandro had no intention of hurting anyone on the bus; he just wanted to get away. After you see the scenes of Brazilian prisons you'll truly understand why.
What's also scary about the situation is the police in Rio. Most are very under-trained and decisions made by the people in power just made the situation worse. Then there's the media. It played a huge role in how the event played out and the police were not in any position to control them. The incident is a tragedy for so many reasons.
The filmmakers do a wonderful job of keeping the viewer on edge toward the end of the standoff. The conclusion is sadly ironic and infuriating because of all the lost opportunities to end the situation much earlier. The final voice-overs are a wonderful collection of various people's opinions on how the situation came to an end. It adds interesting insight into to the overall complex picture to hear the varying points of view.
The only complaints I have with the film is that it repeats info trying to beat the street kid problem into your head and overuses voice-over over flyovers of the city, which would have been more powerful and interesting if we could have seen the people talking.
Besides those problems, the film is very intriguing. Having not known the outcome ahead of time, the documentary took on the tension of a great thriller. It opened up my eyes to a part of the world, which not too familiar with. This is one of the many great things that film can do and this one does it compellingly.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
