”bus 174” by jose padilha essay sample

The documentary Bus 174, by Jose Padilha showed and described the life of Sandro Rosa do Nascimento. The documentary was filmed with clips of camera crews who were on scene; in addition to that there were interviews with those who knew Sandro on a personal level. The film started off with street kids from Brazil explaining how life was for the poor, as the camera overviewed the slums of Brazil.

Throughout the documentary, the film jumped back in fourth in scenes from when Sandro was a kid and how he grew up, to the day of the “ interrupted robbery” stunt he pulled off. As the cameramen broadcasted Sandro’s bus robbery live all throughout Brazil, Sandro believed people actually acknowledged him for once and felt like he was protected from the police. Not knowing that the moment he would step foot off the bus, the police finally reacted and attempted to shoot him but missed. Police then rushed and took him to jail; Sandro soon passed away from asphyxiation, which was done by the police as means of subduing him.

The point of view was mainly Sandro’s point of view, it was his time to shine and no one was going to stop him. Throughout his life Sandro hadn’t been acknowledged by anyone, he was a street kid that was “ invisible” to others but his own kind. One person interviewed was a psychologist, he said Sandro did this whole bus scene because he wanted acknowledgement and glory, that’s why he would come out and propose a threat, he would constantly bring up situations in the past where kids in the slums of Brazil of how thy were being treated.