All this difficulty served to distance me from the characters and I didn't feel much involved in their problems. Perhaps this was intentional? Made to make me aware that my emotions are being manipulated by the media? If so, then they succeeded. Consider the demonstration scenes where the boy's mother was arrested.. This was a hotch-potch of hand-held stuff inter-cut with old news footage. It seemed contrived, and I didn't feel involved. Maybe the director wanted me to know that he was spinning me a yarn.
Incidentally, perhaps all ad execs live unconventional lives but I can't imagine our hero's counterparts in Saatchi & Saatchi riding to work in Fitzrovia on their skateboards.
I'd be interested to see a film made about the political shenanigans in London surrounding Pinochet's arrest and subsequent release by the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw. You may recall that the case went all the way to the House of Lords who ruled in favour of Pinochet's extradition to Spain to face trial. Straw overruled the House of Lords decision on medical grounds and allowed him to return to Chile. On his return to Santiago Airport he arose Lazarus-like from his wheelchair to the cheers of his supporters. In his recent autobiography (which I haven't read – but I did see a review which said it was really boring) Straw apparently admits to having regrets about that decision. Here's a quote I found on a Chilean web site:
'In his book entitled, “Last Man Standing: Memoirs of a Political Survivor”, the former Secretary of State told intimate details of Pinochet’s arrest in London in 1998.
Straw was pressured by Tony Blair’s government and the British Parliament to cancel his request for extradition, because “relations with Chile were good” and Pinochet was “frail” at 83 years old. He also said that former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wrote to Tony Blair twice asking for the release of Pinochet.
“Back then, the Prime Minister was nervous about the whole thing,” Straw writes. ”Occasionally after a cabinet meeting, he would call me into his office and suggest it was time to ‘say goodbye’ to the general, and then we would discuss the issue.”
Straw says he regrets not being able to deliver General Pinochet to Judge Baltasar Garzon. “Pinochet was one of the worst dictators of the postwar period and it is very frustrating that I could not take him to the bench, ” he said upon reflection.'http://www.ilovechile.cl/2012/09/28/former-british-home-secretary-jack-straw-says-pinochet-deceived-us/68344
Later, Pinochet was indicted in Chile but was never convicted and died after a heart attack at the age of 91.
Audience feedback was the lowest of the season so far at 73%:
| A | Worked on many levels |
| A | Well done – absorbing |
| A | When are we due a referendum? |
| A | VERY thought-provoking! |
| B | Interesting themes but would have preferred less time on the advertising relative to the politics and personal. |
| B | Great story especially as it's true. Shame about the way it was directed. |
| B | Very difficult subject to tackle but the vehicle was interesting. Fascinating to see actual footage! Found a complex mix of pathos, fear, naivety and optimism – I enjoyed it! Many thanks for a challenging film. |
| B | |
| B | |
| B | |
| B | Very interesting. Good to know more about past achievements of Chile. |
| B | Slow to get going, but interesting. |
| B | Disturbing and intelligent |
| B | |
| B | |
| B | Great combination of drama and documentary. The hand-held camera was fine – but the 'worn' look of the film was unnecessary. |
| B | Reflected the mood, tension and culture of Chile at that time. |
| C | A subject I knew little about – encouraging to see people power in action. |
| C | Good content. Thought well acted. Interesting. |
| C | Sound quality was poor. I suppose poor picture quality was to make it XXXX (illegible) but I prefer better xxxxx (illegible) |
| C | |
| C | Found background noise coming and going disconcerting. Power of the media – thank goodness. |
| C | Interesting to see so political a film |
| C | interesting insight into Chilean history – power of advertising. |
| C | Very interesting... a bit home movie. |
| D | Very ambitious film. Not sure the directing was up to it. Interesting story. |
| D | Big subject... but I thought the acting and direction fell short. |
| D | Very informative. |
Online stuff:
Rotten Tomatoes 80% audience rating:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_2012/
IMDB 7.5 out of 10:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2059255/
Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian “Pablo Larraín's film about Chilean democracy is simple and direct, heartfelt and involving”:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/07/no-film-review
Wikipedia on Pinochet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_Pinochet
I Love Chile article on Jack Straw's autobiography:
http://www.ilovechile.cl/2012/09/28/former-british-home-secretary-jack-straw-says-pinochet-deceived-us/68344
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