PVC-1
| PVC-1 | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Spiros Stathoulopoulos |
| Written by | Spiros Stathoulopoulos Dwight Istanbulian |
| Starring | Daniel Páez Mérida Urquía Alberto Zornoza Hugo Pereira |
| Cinematography | Spiros Stathoulopoulos |
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Release date
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Running time
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85 minutes |
| Country | Colombia |
| Language | Spanish |
PVC-1 is a 2007 Colombian drama film directed by Spiros Stathoulopoulos. The plot was inspired by a true story about a pipe bomb improvised explosive device (IED) that was placed around the neck of an extortion victim. This directorial debut premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2007 as an official selection of the Directors' Fortnight. The 84-minute film was shot in one single continuous take without cuts using a Glidecam Smooth Shooter and a Glidecam 2000 Pro camera stabilization system. The film won numerous awards at the International Thessaloniki Film Festival.
The film, set in Colombia, opens with a gang in a car, carefully looking after a certain package. The gang is led by a violent and volatile man who is only known as Benjamin. A few moments later, the gang arrives at a farm and storm the house, taking the family hostage. Benjamin then says that there is money in the house, and that the family will give it to them if they want to remain unharmed. However, Simon, the man of the house, says that they are wrong and that they are a really poor family who have never had much money. A furious Benjamin holds Simon at gunpoint, while one of his henchmen begins taking measures of all the family member's necks, he realizes that the only person who has the "desired" measures is Simon's wife, Ofelia. The man then takes out the package seen at the beginning of the film and opens it, revealing 2 pieces of PVC pipes and other instruments; he places the pieces around Ofelia's neck and straps them together, forming a "collar bomb". Benjamin then orders the family to lay down on their stomachs, the family complies and, a few minutes later, realize the gang is gone.
The shocked family, still asking themselves why they were attacked if they had no money, begin trying to take the device off Ofelia's neck (being completely unaware of what the device was) but are unable to do so. They find a cassette tape in the package where the device was, and play it on a stereo player. The cassette is a message left by the gang, asking for a ransom of 15 million pesos to remove the collar, and at the same time warning them not to tamper with the device or go to the police.
Since the family has no money, they decide to ask help to the police anyway. They use a cellphone to call Ofelia's sister so that she in turn can call the police.
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Wikipedia