No (2012)
Country: CHI/FR/MEX/US
Technical: col/1.40:1 118m
Director: Pablo Larraín
Cast: Gael García Bernal, Alfredo Castro, Luis Gnecco
Synopsis:
In 1988, under international pressure to secure a mandate from his people after fifteen years of dictatorship, President Augusto Pinochet gives the go-ahead for a referendum. Many are sceptical or fearful about how the vote will be gathered and whether the result will be heeded, but an advertising employee with a dissident past is persuaded to take over artistic direction of the 'No' campaign.
Review:
Unattractively filmed with grainy colour and handheld camera, this is a tough call for any audience to sit still for nearly two hours. However, as the twin rallying cries of Happiness and Humour gradually have their impact, and the 'Yes' campaign is forever behind the pace, it is hard not to be won over by this 'stranger than fiction' narrative. Meanwhile, the film skates over the mechanics of producing and broadcasting what are in effect 15 minute party political broadcasts on a daily basis, preferring rightly to focus on the palpable effect it all has on the protagonist and his family, with the veiled threat of summary imprisonment and torture a continuing reality in Chilean life.
Country: CHI/FR/MEX/US
Technical: col/1.40:1 118m
Director: Pablo Larraín
Cast: Gael García Bernal, Alfredo Castro, Luis Gnecco
Synopsis:
In 1988, under international pressure to secure a mandate from his people after fifteen years of dictatorship, President Augusto Pinochet gives the go-ahead for a referendum. Many are sceptical or fearful about how the vote will be gathered and whether the result will be heeded, but an advertising employee with a dissident past is persuaded to take over artistic direction of the 'No' campaign.
Review:
Unattractively filmed with grainy colour and handheld camera, this is a tough call for any audience to sit still for nearly two hours. However, as the twin rallying cries of Happiness and Humour gradually have their impact, and the 'Yes' campaign is forever behind the pace, it is hard not to be won over by this 'stranger than fiction' narrative. Meanwhile, the film skates over the mechanics of producing and broadcasting what are in effect 15 minute party political broadcasts on a daily basis, preferring rightly to focus on the palpable effect it all has on the protagonist and his family, with the veiled threat of summary imprisonment and torture a continuing reality in Chilean life.
Country: CHI/FR/MEX/US
Technical: col/1.40:1 118m
Director: Pablo Larraín
Cast: Gael García Bernal, Alfredo Castro, Luis Gnecco
Synopsis:
In 1988, under international pressure to secure a mandate from his people after fifteen years of dictatorship, President Augusto Pinochet gives the go-ahead for a referendum. Many are sceptical or fearful about how the vote will be gathered and whether the result will be heeded, but an advertising employee with a dissident past is persuaded to take over artistic direction of the 'No' campaign.
Review:
Unattractively filmed with grainy colour and handheld camera, this is a tough call for any audience to sit still for nearly two hours. However, as the twin rallying cries of Happiness and Humour gradually have their impact, and the 'Yes' campaign is forever behind the pace, it is hard not to be won over by this 'stranger than fiction' narrative. Meanwhile, the film skates over the mechanics of producing and broadcasting what are in effect 15 minute party political broadcasts on a daily basis, preferring rightly to focus on the palpable effect it all has on the protagonist and his family, with the veiled threat of summary imprisonment and torture a continuing reality in Chilean life.