Tarantino takes on a Latin beat

"Half the world is dying of starvation; the other half is dying of obesity. Fight the monster, or invite him to dinner," says director Jonathan Jakubowicz in a postscript to his film about kidnapping in Caracas.

In other words, it's the poor versus the rich in Venezuela and, however horrific the abductions are, it is difficult to blame the young men who lie in wait for expensive cars and make off with their occupants for easy money.

The perpetrators don't ask for too much, which means that the money is generally forthcoming and the often corrupt police are not involved.

But the kidnapping can result in rape, death or both. There is one incident every hour in Latin America and only 30 per cent of the victims survive.

Secuestro Express, shot on video in the kinetic, almost rabid style of early Tarantino, details one such case and has become the biggest grossing movie in Venezuela, overtaking Titanic and The Passion of the Christ. It was condemned by the government as a falsification of the truth and "a miserable film with no artistic value". But it looks pretty truthful to me, if in a highly coloured way.

The action takes place over one night, and the victims are Carla (Mía Maestro) and Martin (Jean Paul Leroux).

She is the daughter of a doctor who works for the poor but cokes herself up at the weekend. He is a less liberal product of old money searching for a hit when a gang, led by Budu (Pedro Perez) and Trece (Carlos Molina), carry them off.

Everyone in the film seems to be drugged up, which makes the resulting violence seem almost inevitable.

But, even though garish in style, it is much more morality play than horror story. And it is acted out with some conviction, especially by Maestro as the increasingly desperate young woman.

Jakubowicz knows exactly what he is doing, and drums home his message with rare abandon.

Secuestro Express
Cert: 18