"In February 1977, a middle-aged Indianapolis businessman named Tony Kiritsis took hostage an employee at his local mortgage brokers, who he was convinced had cheated him out of the profits of a piece of real estate. The system was weighted against the little guy, Kiritsis decided, and he was going to be the one to make it pay. He attached one end of a wire to the trigger of a shotgun, the other to the hostage's head, and demanded $5m and an admission of guilt from the brokers' boss."
"The final moments of the standoff, which lasted 63 hours, were broadcast live on TV. It has already been the subject of a 2018 documentary (Dead Man's Line) and a 2022 thriller podcast (American Hostage) which starred Jon Hamm as the DJ who broadcast an interview with Kiritsis live from the crime scene."
"Now Gus Van Sant, whose 40-year-plus career incorporates queer landmarks (My Own Private Idaho, Milk), mainstream crowdpleasers (Good Will Hunting) and arthouse award-winners (the Columbine-inspired Elephant), is dramatising the events in Dead Man's Wire. This wry thriller cuts between the volatile captor (Bill Skarsgard) and the media circus swirling around him, which includes the DJ, played here by Colman Domingo, and a female TV journalist (Myha'la) fed up with being fobbed off."
In February 1977, Indianapolis businessman Tony Kiritsis took a mortgage broker employee hostage, believing he had been cheated in a real estate deal. Kiritsis attached a wire from a shotgun trigger to the hostage's head and demanded $5 million and an admission of guilt from the brokers' boss. The 63-hour standoff concluded with live television broadcast of its final moments. The event has inspired multiple adaptations, including a 2018 documentary and 2022 podcast. Director Gus Van Sant now dramatizes these events in Dead Man's Wire, featuring Bill Skarsgard as Kiritsis, Colman Domingo as a DJ, and Al Pacino in a cameo role. Van Sant was unaware of the original case, having been abroad after graduating from design school.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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