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Nov 18, 2004

"It's always too early to abandon hope." --Mary Manin Morrissey

Bus 174

Sometime on the afternoon of June 12, 2000, Rio de Janeiro Bus 174 and its passengers were taken hostage by an unknown young man. Brandishing a gun, the man, dubbed "Sergio" by the police, held on to the bus for four and half traumatic hours. The police, in a series of epic mishandlings, allowed the media to get up close to the bus. Soon after he noticed the camera crews, "Sergio" uncovered his face and presented it to the world. As the media filmed the scene from every angle, frame by frame, events unfolded dramatically and tragically, watched by some 35 million Brazilians on live television. During the course of the hijacking "Sergio" made several references to events that shaped his life, such as the murders by police of street kids in a Rio square. Jose Padilha's critically acclaimed movie, "Bus 174", weaves the events of that afternoon to raise awareness of the turmoil in Brazil.