SYNOPSIS: Based on a true story, Last Stop 174 tells the stories of two boys, Alessandro and Sandro, orphans who drift into crime and bond in prison.  The movie also chronicles the parallel saga of Alessandro's religious mother, Marissa, searching for the infant son taken from her by the drug lord of the ghetto were she lived.  The tree stories intertwine and culminate in the violent hijacking of city bus 174 on the busy streets of Rio.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: A dramatized account of the life of the young slum dweller who perpetrated the Rio de Janeiro hijacking depicted in Jose Padilha’s excellent 2003 documentary, "Bus 174," Bruno Barreto’s Last Stop 174 goes through the motions of depicting a deeply troubled and bereft life but adds little new to the many bigscreen portrayals of poverty and desperation at the bottom of Brazil’s society. Because of the milieu’s familiarity and thoroughness of the earlier docu, a yawning sense of deja vu cloaks the entire film, which may click in its home country but doesn’t look to travel far.

The film actually examines the ill fortune of two boys, Alessandro and Sandro, orphans who drift into crime and bond in prison. Parallel strand has Alessandro’s religious mother searching for her son for years until finding Sandro and deciding he’s the one. Well-known tragic ending hangs over everything, and a film like this needs to do more than just encourage sympathy and understanding for society’s dispossessed. Young thespians and street locations have vitality, although secondary adult roles are caricatured. English subtitles at least need to correct "Linch him!" to "Lynch him!" in the climactic scene!

Although not quite up to par to Padilha's documentary (I highly recommend checking it out), if you liked City of God, this may please your foreign film pallet!

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* This DVD will play in North America only.  This DVD should play in most players outside of North America as well, but it's not guaranteed. This DVD will play in any computer DVD-Rom.  This is NOT a DVD-R.

STARRING: Michel Gomes, Marcello Melo Junior, Chris Vianna.
DIRECTOR: Bruno Barreto.
AVAILABILITY: In stock! Ships within one business day.
LENGTH: 110 minutes.
LANGUAGE: Portuguese, with English / French subtitles.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 1.85:1 (16:9 Widescreen); 5.1 Stereo; 1 disc; Chapter selection; Uncut.
VIEWER DISCRETION: Nudity, violence, coarse language, sexual situations.
PICTURE QUALITY: Excellent picture quality. (what's this mean?)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Brazil (2008).
ALSO KNOWN AS:
DATE ADDED TO OUR LIBRARY:  August 14, 2009.