The year is 1999 and for five years the habitants of Parada 88 (88 Stop) live underground on plastic tunnels after an explosion on a cosmetic factory
release a poisonous gas into the atmosphere killing several people. The worker Porfírio (Joel Barcellos) who works outside of those tunnels is selected on a game show
to control the damages and possibly allow people to go back to surface. As reward, he'll get three monts of free air supply - an air company sells air to people
down under (it's inhumane the situation since if the bill does not get paid the air is cut off). He lives with his wife (Yara Amaral) and a blind daughter
(Regina Duarte) and when they are attacked by the air company men when the man is out he seeks revenge on those guys, after almost dying when he got exposed
to the gas that almost claimed his body.
In "Parada 88 - O Limite de Alerta" ("88 Stop - Alert Limit") the future is chaotic and unpredictable. This ecological tale serves as a warning to
what would become of the world after nuclear accidents takes place with Three Mile Island ('79), Chernobyl ('86) and the Cesium 137 (Brazil '87). As for this
prediction the movie works wonders and makes us think about the world we live in when possible leaking of powerful gasses and radiation are a common thread and
survival is almost impossible without people suffering consequences of such acts. The film is first rate when it comes to those issues.
However, on a downer note, it doesn't achieve greatness due to its lack of logical aspects and lack of a potent drama to make us fully committed to it. Example:
most of the time when we're not inside Profírio's house seeing the real drama of his family the movie cuts away to many game shows, entertainment with nude
girls and drinks, which seems to indicate people can have bread and circus during a tragedy. The people are so used to the tragedy that the only way things go
is by having fun and forgetting about the current circumstances they live in. I've found that distractive, almost serving no purpose except for the New Year's
celebration and for the game show where Porfírio wins an extra job and a prize. Other than this issue my only complaint is about the poor quality of image
and sound available for this movie which could be used for educational purposes. It's not depressive as other films of similar theme (such as the underrated
"Abrigo Nuclear") and that may upset some viewers who'll think they're watching a more action oriented flick than a panflet movie about the dangers of
technology as it could be.
For a directorial debut (and his only film as well) Mr. José de Anchieta made a potent film, near explosive and well-acted. His art-direction is very interesting,
with the tunnels and strange locations - a subway station in São Paulo was used to show one of the many connections of 88 Stop. 7/10.
