A Dot and a Line (2004)
"Punto y raya" (original title)

"Punto y raya" is the story of a young Colombian recruit who, while patrolling his country's border, is befriended by a Venezuelan adversary, and the tragic consequences of their relationship.

Director:

Elia Schneider

Writer:

Henry Herrera

Stars:

Roque Valero, Édgar Ramírez, Ramiro Meneses

4 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Roque Valero	...	Cheito
Édgar Ramírez	...	Pedro
Ramiro Meneses	...	Guerrillero - Colombia
Daniela Alvarado	...	Yosmar Coromoto
Pedro Lander	...	Capitan
Dora Mazzone	...	Ana Maria
Rafael Uribe	...	Capitan - Colombia
Laureano Olivares	...	Sgt. Carrasco
Juan David Restrepo	...	Sgt. Requena
Yugui López	...	Narco
Roberto Hernández	...	Narco 2
Daniela Bascopé	...	Lutecia
Carolina López	...	Teniente
Eva Mondolfi	...	Bar Prostitute
Olga Henríquez	...	Cheito's Mother

Storyline

Cheito, a street-wise Venezuelan conscript, is thrown together with Pedro, a straight-arrow volunteer in the Colombian army, when one deserts his company and the other lives through an ambush. They must survive guerrillas, drug producers, corrupt narcotics officers, and each other as they bungle through the jungle: first they are enemies, then allies, then friends, until women and politics test their loyalties. Can pawns survive when powers clash?

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Plot Keywords:

volunteer | drugs | ambush | jungle | border | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Venezuela Chile Spain Uruguay

Language:

Spanish Sign Language Spanish

Release Date:

15 December 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Dot and a Line

Company Credits

Production Co:

Joel Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Venezuela's official submission for the 2005 Oscar Awards, Foreign Language film category.

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Connections

Featured in El Don (2006)

User Reviews

Wonderful movie about a rarely shown war

While the underlying theme and plots of most war movies are similar, this film at least adds the novelty of this rarely shown, but nevertheless, very critical and crucial world conflict.

I (and the film) refer to the drug traffic/coke labs/Maoist rebels/ Venezuelan/Colombian feud. It's a multi faction civil war that is rarely talked about since, of course, the area is neither in Eurasia or North America. But the coke and crack consumers that keep it going are. So, though dozens of films continue to address Bosnia and the ex-Yugoslavia (close to "Europe" and the Middle East), hardly any have been made about this ongoing war which is even more complicated, and ongoing than any other, and closer to many Europeans and North America drug users than anyone wants to recognize.

This film is a light, comedic way of educating those in the "rest of the world" what those around you may contribute to, if not cause, this war and keep it going, fueled by continued consumption of drugs from South America (virtually all, if not all the coke and derivatives, plus marijuana, with a sideline of Ecstasy production, this last drug not native to the area). It is also an interesting take on Venezuelan/Colombian relations along the long, drug, and guerrilla infected border they share.

The film is not at all a sermon about this subject. I personally make it a point in this comment to highlight why the film is so unique, so worth watching. All this, in addition to its being a wonderful, entertaining film, showing human qualities and frailties which can be appreciated anywhere.

Truly exceptional, this film has been a hit at all the festivals it's hit so far. Here in Brazil, it was a hit in Rio in September, and is on the list of the top ten most-voted films at the S. Paulo Festival in October/early November. Highly recommendable!