Review of Bus 174 (2002) by Gio Z — 16 Mar 2010
I can't believe this film made #4 spot of all time on RT. I had to skip through the last 40 minutes because it was just slugging along. The interspersing of background info and side stories is interesting and well-weaved, however after about half way through, this technique becomes predictable.
While this film attempts to expose social problems, I believe it overly sides with the street thugs, critically ending with a tag "the police officers are still working for the Rio squad." These kids they speak about are true criminals, as is this Sandro who the film is about. While they may have had blocks to develop and there may be societal causes for their lifestyle, in the end they don't deserve the kind of sympathy this film manifests.
Fittingly, we learn more and more about the total delinquency of the rio police force as well, and have to watch in horror to the total mismanagement of the squad.
In the end I'm left feeling I just watched a 3rd world country trying to justify the inadequacies of their social system through broad ranging social issues. As much as the film attempts to lean toward "saving the street kids" we're left feeling that the police should be trained to just take the shot in the first hour, and organize themselves like those swat teams that often are guilty of injustice. In other words, this film eats its own foot.
This review of Bus 174 (2002) was written by Gio Z on 16 Mar 2010.
Bus 174 has generally received very positive reviews.
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