A poet with a rebellious heart in “Neruda”
By Jenny Alvarez
Photo By: Courtesy.
From the great director Pablo Larraín’s (JACKIE; Oscar® nominee NO; Golden Globe nominee THE CLUB) kinetic cat-and-mouse tale about the fugitive poet Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco; NO) and the police officer (Gael García Bernal; “Mozart in the Jungle”, NO, Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN).
The Chilean poet-diplomat and politician Pablo Neruda (Gnecco) is also arguably the most famous communist in post-WWII Chile. When the political tides shift, he is forced underground, with a tenacious police inspector (García Bernal) hot on his trail. Meanwhile, in Europe, the legend of the poet hounded by the policeman grows, and artists led by Pablo Picasso clamor for Neruda’s freedom. Neruda, however, sees the struggle with his police inspector nemesis as an opportunity to reinvent himself. He cunningly plays with the inspector, leaving clues designed to make their game of cat and-mouse ever more perilous. In this story of a persecuted poet and his obsessive adversary, Neruda recognizes his own heroic possibilities: a chance to become a symbol for liberty, as well as a literary legend.
This film is the best nature of Pablo Neruda’s art combined with poetry and democracy. Many scenes are full of exquisite art of deception to escape from his enemies. During 1 hour 47 minutes, this film provides bravery, encouragement and warning. Peluchonneau risked all for his work with pure realism but with a contradictory end. Despite many efforts for pursues to Neruda, the obsessed police inspector makes his role one of the best fantasmatic representation. Definitely the film invites the viewer for joining the Communist Party with deep power in those days.
