''Last Stop 174'' ( pt, Última Parada 174) is a 2008

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

directed by

Bruno Barreto Bruno Villela Barreto Borges (born 16 March 1955) is a Brazilian film director. Biography Born in Rio de Janeiro, Barreto has been making feature-length films ever since he was 17 years old and remains one of Brazil's most accomplished and pop ...

, written by Braulio Mantovani, produced by Moonshot Pictures and starring Michel Gomes and Marcello Melo, Jr.. The film relates a fictionalized account of the life of Sandro Rosa do Nascimento, a street kid in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

that survived the

Candelária massacre The Candelária massacre ( pt, chacina da Candelária ) was a mass killing in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 23, 1993. During the night, eight homeless people, including six minors, were killed by a group of men beside the Candelária Church. S ...

and, in 2000, hijacked a bus. On September 16, 2008, the film was chosen by the Ministry of Culture as the representative of

in the Oscar competition for best foreign film at the ceremony in 2009. In rigorous reconstruction of the facts, the film was set in locations of downtown Rio de Janeiro, as the

Candelária Church The Candelária Church ( pt, Igreja da Candelária, ) is an important historical Roman Catholic church in the city of Rio de Janeiro, in southeastern Brazil. It was built and decorated during a long period, from 1775 to the late 19th century. The ...

, the neighborhood of the Jardim Botânico, Tavares Bastos'

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of working-class neighborhoods in Brazil. The term was first used in the Providência neighborhood in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was built by soldiers who had ...

(''slum'') and Curicica, over eight weeks, between July, August and September 2007.

Plot

''Last Stop 174'' tells the story of Sandro Rosa do Nascimento, who in 2000 hijacked

Bus 174 ''Bus 174'' ( pt, Ônibus 174) is a 2002 Brazilian documentary film. It is the directorial debut of director José Padilha and co-director Felipe Lacerda. Overview In 2000, Sandro do Nascimento, a young man from a poor background, held passeng ...

in Jardim Botânico, a violent hijacking that has vividly stuck with Brazilians. The film opens with a woman giving her child (Alessandro) up at gunpoint to a man collecting debts. This woman soon finds religion as a means of salvation, marrying a pastor. She believes that God will help her find Sandro. However, the Sandro the woman finds is not her son — it is another boy (Sandro do Nascimento), whose mother was murdered in front of him, prompting him to move to Rio in search of a better life. There, Sandro lived near the

, and survived the

in 1993. The film takes the viewer through Sandro's life, showing his various run-ins with the law, his romantic life, and the charity workers that tried to help him in the favela. Despite his knowledge that the religious woman is not his mother, Sandro goes along with it anyway to have a place to live. The final thirty minutes of the film is a dramatization of the

hijacking of 2000, showing how the events happened (including the feigned killing of the woman who wrote the lipstick messages, the death of the young teacher on the bus, and the eventual death by asphyxiation of Sandro). The final scene of the film is Sandro's adoptive mother and his friend Alê (whose full name is also Alessandro) at Sandro's funeral.

Themes

Religion/Family: ''Last Stop 174'' invokes ideas of salvation/prevention from crime through religion and/or family. Religious imagery is frequently juxtaposed with violence, illustrating the divide in Brazil between peace and those seeking peace with those involved in violence, whether it be street kids or the police. Sandro’s adoptive mother saves herself through religion and the hope of putting her family back together. Sandro loses his footing when his mother dies, leading him to a life ridden with crime. Victims: All the characters in ''Last Stop 174'' are victims - some are victims of Sandro and his gang, some are victims of the system. Sandro is an indirect victim of violence when gangsters murder his mother in front of him. Through becoming orphaned at a very young age, Sandro lacks guidance and runs to Rio, where he becomes a victim of a system that doesn’t care. As a homeless youth in Rio, Sandro robs and kills people, making them his victims, and indirectly, victims of the system. When Sandro holds up the bus, the lipstick woman tells Sandro that he is the only true victim of the situation, “the situation” being the system - he is the true victim because he is the direct victim, the hostages are only indirect victims. Prevalence of Violence: ''Last Stop 174'' shows how common violence in Brazil is, and how it is not contained to the favelas. One instance of this is when Sandro and his friend hold up a woman who has her window open in a traffic jam. She gives Sandro what he asks for, but him and his friend shoot her anyhow, in front of a number of cars and no one does anything about it. Furthermore, when Sandro holds up the bus, the lipstick woman casually calls her boss, explaining that she’s going to be slightly late to work because she’s “just getting mugged.” Her action of casually making a call displays how desensitized Brazilians have become to everyday violence.

Cast

*Michel Gomes as Sandro *

Cris Vianna Kelly Cristina dos Santos, better known as Cris Vianna (born April 11, 1977) is a Brazilian actress, model, and former singer. Biography Vianna was born in São Paulo. At the age of 13, her father, a sportsman, died. She was forced to pay for he ...

as Marisa *Marcello Melo Jr. as Alê Monstro *Gabriela Luiz as Soninha *Anna Cotrim as Walquíria *Tay Lopez as Jaziel *Vitor Carvalho as child Sandro *Jana Guinoud as Maria (Aunt) *Rodrigo dos Santos as Wagner (Uncle) *Ramom Francisco as child Patola *Lucas Rodrigues as child Quico *Yasmine Luyindula as child Soninha *Hyago Silva as child Alê Monstro *

Douglas Silva Douglas Silva (born 27 September 1988)City of Men - The Movie: Cast
is a Brazilian actor. ...

as Patola *Gleyson Lima as Quico *Rafael Logan as Meleca *André Ramiro as Policeman *Alessandra Cabral as Geni *Teresa Xavier as Selma *Maria Delfina as Dr. Jacira

References

External links

Globo Filmes (Portuguese)
* {{Brazilian submission for Academy Awards 2008 films 2008 crime drama films 2008 crime thriller films Brazilian crime drama films Films scored by Marcelo Zarvos Films directed by Bruno Barreto Films set in 1993 Films set in 2000 Films set in Rio de Janeiro (city) Films about hostage takings Crime films based on actual events 2000s Portuguese-language films

Plot

Themes

Cast

See also

References

External links