The Zero Hour (2010 film)

The Zero Hour (Spanish: La hora cero) is a 2010 Venezuelan action film directed by Diego Velasco and based on the 1996 Venezuelan medical strike.

The Zero Hour
Directed byDiego Velasco
StarringZapata 666
Amanda Key
Release date
  • 8 October 2010 (2010-10-08)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryVenezuela
LanguageSpanish

Synopsis

In Caracas in 1996, a medical strike takes place. Parca (Zapata 666), a self-described Grim reaper[1] and regular sicario,[2] brings a pregnant injured woman (Amanda Key) to his gang; the locals are unsympathetic to the doctors' reasons for strike and kidnap a doctor (Erich Wildpret) from the picket line, but the child is born in the back of a car. Witnessing this, Parca becomes invested in helping the needy, holding-up a private hospital and taking hostages to release in return for treatment of those from the slums.[1] Eventually, this violent scheme collapses on him and the people around him.[3]

Production

The production mimicked the story of the film, facing troubles involving the kidnap of three crew members,[1] including its co-producer,[2] director Velasco being held-up at gunpoint, and the assassination of an actor shortly before recording his parts.[1][2] Despite the themes, a co-writer said that they "want viewers to digest and interpret the movie’s ideas, not to put ideas in their heads".[2]

By 2016, it was the highest-grossing Venezuelan national film,[4] getting $3.5 million in box office takings in Venezuela.[5]

Reception

The film was well-received in the Americas, both North and South.[5] It was given as an example in the book The Precarious in the Cinemas of the Americas of a "socially-engaged thriller [...] that [makes] use of mainstream cinema techniques, such as MTV-style, fast-paced editing and the inclusion of violent scenes to call attention to the collective responsibility for social inequalities".[6]

Cast

Awards

The film won three international awards, "Best Action Sequence Martial Arts Feature" at the US Action On Film International Film Festival (2011); the Audience Choice award at the Jackson Crossroads Film Festival (2011); and the Best Film at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (2011). It was also nominated for the Best Latin-American Film award at the Mexican Ariel Awards in 2012.[7]

References
  1. "The Zero Hour". Sounds and Colours. 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  2. Generation, Matthew Aho From issue: Voices from the New; Winter 2010. "Film: [i]La Hora Cero[/i]". www.americasquarterly.org. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  3. Rotten Tomatoes, The Zero Hour (2010), retrieved 2019-03-18
  4. Fedko-Blake, Varia. "The 10 Best Venezuelan Movies Of All Time". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  5. Koehler, Robert (2011-08-23). "The Zero Hour". Variety. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  6. The precarious in cinemas of the Americas. Burucúa, Constanza,, Sitnisky, Carolina. Cham, Switzerland. 29 May 2018. p. 128. ISBN 9783319768076. OCLC 1038484498.CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. La hora cero Awards - IMDb, retrieved 2019-03-19
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