Recently, the movies Argo and Zero Dark Thirty have shown fictionalized versions of true stories.
Both controversial, some have felt history was being rewritten (see some Canadians reaction to Argo), while others have felt the films brought their respective events to a larger audience.
No is no exception.
The film, which the Vernon Film Society is screening Monday at the Towne Cinema, is a fictionalized account of the 1988 referendum in Chile that resulted in the resignation of dictator General Augusto Pinochet.
International pressure, mainly from the U.S., pushed Pinochet into holding a referendum. If he won, it would mean another eight years of his rule, with “disappearances,” torture and continued repression in the country.
The film focuses on two men from the same prosperous Santiago ad agency.
The middle-aged head of the agency, Lucho Guzman (Alfredo Castro), is a decent, complacent man who happens to be a senior figure on Pinochet’s advisory council. His smartest employee, Rene Saavedro (Gael Garcia Bernal), is a liberal whiz kid who’s approached by a coalition of 16 opposition parties to head a media campaign for a “no” vote.
This handsome, single father believes the public must be won over by a carefully orchestrated campaign that looks to a hopeful future.
Actual ads and music from the campaign are part of the movie.
Some of the coalition feel it is the wrong approach, but gradually the “no” faction gathers strength and cohesion and has to battle the dirty tricks the Pinochet government uses.
As film reviewer Philip French from The Observer writes: “The 17 days before voting turn into a cross between the Eatanswill byelection in Pickwick Papers, Mad Men and a tense fortnight during the Arab Spring.”
No was a 2013 Academy Award nomination for best foreign film.
No shows at the Towne Cinema Monday at 5:15 and 7:45 p.m. Tickets are available one week ahead at the Bean Scene and the theatre. Please note: there is some violence and coarse language.
