Bus 174

A gripping feature documentary chronicling a hostage crisis on a Brazilian bus that widens into a moving biography of the perpetrator and an insightful exploration of the socioeconomic realities that shaped him, Bus 174 centers around a June 2000 incident in Rio de Janeiro, when a young man named Sandro, who'd lived briefly with an aunt after his mother's murder before hitting the streets, tried to rob a busload of passengers and wound up holding them at gunpoint while the vehicle was surrounded by SWAT teams, television crews, and scores of bystanders. Expertly juxtaposing broadcast scenes of Sandro haranguing police, together with testimony from survivors and other witnesses, the film moves beyond the headlines-making event to draw an affecting picture of Rio's street children (offering a stinging indictment of Brazilian social policy and police training), while also limning a portrait of Sandro, whose motives remain obscure and fate remains the subject of political debate. Writer-director Jose Padilha resists the temptation to sensationalize, allowing the material to unfold at a natural, unhurried pace, resulting in a moving cinematic cry of pain that's all the more effective for being one of grief and resignation, rather than anger. Recommended. (F. Swietek)