historic
No is not a simple denied statement
By Jenny Alvarez
Photo:Courtesy
When Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, facing international pressure, calls for a referendum on his presidency in 1988, opposition leaders persuade a brash young advertising executive, Rene Saavedra, to spearhead their campaign. With scant resources and constant scrutiny by the despot’s watchmen, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and free their country from oppression.
This movie is a worthy effort to show how a country really came together and changed its destiny focusing on joy and creativity and trying to leave behind fear and anger. Larraín maintains a studiously ambiguous attitude toward the No campaign, celebrating its success in winning the referendum — though the outcome is known from history, the film still manages to be tense, suspenseful — while asking what was sacrificed in that victory so the director seems to situate the debased state of contemporary politics in this transformation. The No of his title takes on ominous new meaning in that light. Besides, there are some decent ironic moments and the late 1980s ambience is competently brought back to life in costumes and production design. It is a movie that really makes you to think about politics and definitely Pablo Larraín has made interesting films like “Post Mortem” and this one is not an exception.
