Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Last Stop 174

Directed by Bruno Barreto

This is a pretty effective movie from Bráulio Mantovani, who wrote "City of God", and seemingly kicked off the Brazilian favela genre, at least so far as international audiences are concerned.

This film tells the interconnected stories of three people: Marisa (Chris Vianna), a young mother whose infant is taken from her as a drug debt; Alessandro (Marcello Melo Junior), her child who grows up to be a drug dealer and thief, and Sandro (Michel Gomes and Vitor Carvalho), another boy who is orphaned and grows up on the streets.

The two Ales meet in jail, and Marisa, who has found God, is convinced that the wrong Ale is her son. Eventually, Sandro snaps, and takes a city bus hostage.

The film portrays the random violence and cruelty of Rio, but also shows in a good light the people that are working to improve conditions. It's nice to see a film set in the slums that is not all about drug dealers - the drug industry is present throughout, but remains on the periphery.

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