On June 12, 2000, Sandro do Nascimento, a coked-up 21 year-old from the streets of Rio de Janeiro, hijacked bus 174. As police and film crews arrived, the drama unfolded live on TV, scooping Brazil's highest ratings that year; the attitude of the viewing public most likely mimicking that of the onlookers who, at the conclusion, tried to lynch the assailant.
As Padilha's gripping documentary proves, the middle-classes don't care for these kids, with more than half of those polled by a radio station supporting the Candelaria massacre (where the police murdered eight youngsters). It was this massacre that prompted Sandro's actions and - cutting interviews with social workers, cops and street kids, along with visits to Rio's jails, into the actual hijacking - Padilha paints a shocking portrait of the tribulations these children face.
This powerful film offers no excuses for Sandro's actions, but his situation demands our empathy.