Who made it? * Director/writer: Jonathan Jakubowicz Cast: Mia Maestro, Calros Julion Monila, Pedro Perez * What's it about? * Secuestro means kidnap and this film about kidnapping in Venezuela, South America. A young wealthy couple, Carla (Mia Maestro) and Martin (Jean Paul Leroux) are kidnapped by a gang of thugs after a night out in a dancing club. The kidnappers take their victims on a hell ride in Caracas's gritty, dark world as they wait for the ransom to be paid off by Carla's father. * WHAT'S it like? * Kidnapping is rife in South America and it's a subject that merits exploration; Secueresto Express purports to do just that. Shot on DV, ostensibly, in order to bring us closer to the gritty reality of kidnapping's horror but the blurriness and graininess of DV makes it tiresome to watch, particularly when the camera goes wide. Nonetheless, the photography is impressive. The use of light shades and colour to capture the social contrast in Caracas is brilliantly executed. Also tight shots and fast moving camera adds to the tension and the thrill. It's obvious the film maker was trying to achieve a "City of God" or "Reservoir dogs" film; he may have got the style but he failed on the narrative level. The film lingers too long on the kidnappers’ violence against their victims (lots of guns pushed into heads, eyes, mouths..) instead of exploring these characters and giving some depth. The results, of course, are that we completely loose interest in these characters and end up feeling that we are watching an MTV flick, which is entertaining but not intellectually satisfying, as you would expect from a film about an important subject. * Nationwide Release on 9th june, 2006
