A woman is turned into a human time bomb after a group of terrorists invade her home in rural Colombia.  They demand 15 million pesos or else they will detonate the bomb wrapped around her neck.  How can a poor family scrape together that kind of money in short amount of time given?

CRITIQUE

PVC-1 is a perfect example as to why people make films a certain way.  Unlike more “traditional” films PVC takes place in real time, is shot on a single camera (with no edits,) and lacks a full musical score. There is also no plot or character development. The events just simply unfold for the audience.  And while I do have respect for Director Stathoulopoulos (who not only directed the film, but also served as the director of photography) for choosing to go this round, I do feel that it disservices the story.  For a film that is supposed to make the audience fear for the family, and the victim in particular, we are never given the opportunity to care. 

The single camera style Stathoulopoulos employs brings the audience into these events as a silent observer, rather than allowing the audience to become part of the events.  Because of this, we are never given an opportunity to understand what the motivations of the terrorists are (aside from the obvious greed) nor how would they know if their victim has contacted the authorities, or even how they would detonate the bomb if things weren’t going their way. Nor are we given the opportunity to get to know the family, as we only see them being terrorized for reasons that they do not understand.

Now, I don’t feel as though PVC-1 is a particularly bad film. As a film lover, I found myself captivated by it.  I found myself wanting to understand why certain choices were made, and how much work went into planning this feature.  This is not a film for casual movie watchers, as nothing really happens between the film’s beginning and end. However, those who want to see a filmmaker attempt to tell a story via non-traditional means, I would recommend PVC-1.

THE VIDEO

The film was shot for cheap on video and it shows. The widescreen image is very grainy, and has many moments in which the camera automatically shifts between various lighting filters.

THE AUDIO

The film is presented in a Dolby Digital 2.0 Spanish language track.  The dialogue is clear and is never lost under any of the ambient sounds.

THE EXTRAS

No bonus material is included.

FINAL THOUGHTS

While my rating for PVC-1 is pretty low, I do not believe that it is a bad film. It’s just a completely ineffectual film.  It’s hard to form an emotional connection with the subjects of a film, when the audience is regulated to nothing more than a passive observer.  I do feel that this is a powerful story and one that people should know about.