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| One Prism on the Undoing of Pinochet | One Prism on the Undoing of Pinochet |
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| The blunt title of “No,” directed by Pablo Larraín and one of the five nominees for best foreign-language film in this year’s Academy Awards, refers to an inspiring moment in the history of Chile, his native land. In a straight up-or-down, yes-or-no plebiscite there in 1988, the citizenry ended the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet by voting him out of power, 15 years after he had seized control in a bloody American-backed coup. | The blunt title of “No,” directed by Pablo Larraín and one of the five nominees for best foreign-language film in this year’s Academy Awards, refers to an inspiring moment in the history of Chile, his native land. In a straight up-or-down, yes-or-no plebiscite there in 1988, the citizenry ended the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet by voting him out of power, 15 years after he had seized control in a bloody American-backed coup. |
| Clips From the Original No Campaign in 1988 | Clips From the Original No Campaign in 1988 |
| “I just make movies,” Mr. Larraín said, adding: “I’m not the official version of anything. I’m just an artist who does what he wants, what feels best. And if people think that Lincoln is Daniel Day-Lewis, it’s not going to be my problem or Steven Spielberg’s problem.” | |
| In the case of “No” the issue is further blurred by Mr. Larraín’s use of documentary footage, shot in 1988, which he estimated amounts to about 30 percent of the film. The rest of “No,” the fictional component, was shot in the same style to give the film a uniform, coherent look, thus merging reality and fiction. | In the case of “No” the issue is further blurred by Mr. Larraín’s use of documentary footage, shot in 1988, which he estimated amounts to about 30 percent of the film. The rest of “No,” the fictional component, was shot in the same style to give the film a uniform, coherent look, thus merging reality and fiction. |
| “I still get a lot of comments from people who, after watching the movie, they say: ‘Oh you did a great job with Pinochet. That actor really looks like him,' ” Mr. Larraín said in an interview in New York last fall. “And I’m like, ‘No, no, no, wait.’ ” | “I still get a lot of comments from people who, after watching the movie, they say: ‘Oh you did a great job with Pinochet. That actor really looks like him,' ” Mr. Larraín said in an interview in New York last fall. “And I’m like, ‘No, no, no, wait.’ ” |
| In the interview Mr. Larraín described “No” as a pastiche with “a strange balance between documentary and fiction,” adding that “the way things happen in the movie is not exactly the way they were, but the facts are the same.” | In the interview Mr. Larraín described “No” as a pastiche with “a strange balance between documentary and fiction,” adding that “the way things happen in the movie is not exactly the way they were, but the facts are the same.” |
| Asked last month for his formulation Mr. García Bernal used somewhat different language. “The film is definitely faithful to the nature of the true events, true to their sentiment,” he said. “I think that’s what you can say. Of course there are also many more details that you can’t be sure about.” | Asked last month for his formulation Mr. García Bernal used somewhat different language. “The film is definitely faithful to the nature of the true events, true to their sentiment,” he said. “I think that’s what you can say. Of course there are also many more details that you can’t be sure about.” |
| Describing the film as a fable, he added that “it manages to grab hold of two or three elements that show the nature of what was at stake at that time.” | Describing the film as a fable, he added that “it manages to grab hold of two or three elements that show the nature of what was at stake at that time.” |
| “No” is loosely based on “The Plebiscite,” a play written by Antonio Skármeta, a Chilean who is also the author of the novel that was made into the Oscar-winning film “Il Postino.” He invented the René Saavedra character, but his Saavedra is very different from Mr. Larrain’s: 50ish, politically engaged, idealistic and happily married rather than 30ish, indifferent to politics, careerist and separated. | |
| That said, Mr. Skármeta, who has followed the controversy in Chile, emphasized that he likes “No,” praising it for its “fascinating perspective” and the performances. But even if he didn’t, he said, he would defend Mr. Larraín’s right to make the movie as he saw fit. | That said, Mr. Skármeta, who has followed the controversy in Chile, emphasized that he likes “No,” praising it for its “fascinating perspective” and the performances. But even if he didn’t, he said, he would defend Mr. Larraín’s right to make the movie as he saw fit. |
| “A work of art does not have to be reduced to history or represent history,” he said. “The movie does truly lack what took place under the iceberg, which did appear in my play and novel. So the criticisms of the political leadership are correct in that sense. But this is a work of art that uses reality to do something else that is provocative and interesting, that reflects the views of a different, younger generation.” | “A work of art does not have to be reduced to history or represent history,” he said. “The movie does truly lack what took place under the iceberg, which did appear in my play and novel. So the criticisms of the political leadership are correct in that sense. But this is a work of art that uses reality to do something else that is provocative and interesting, that reflects the views of a different, younger generation.” |
| “No” has also been criticized for what it leaves out. The numerous books and academic theses that have been written on the plebiscite over the last quarter-century uniformly credit the anti-Pinochet forces’ grass-roots effort to register 7.5 million Chileans as pivotal to their success at the polls, but that is a subject that Mr. Larraín does not address. | “No” has also been criticized for what it leaves out. The numerous books and academic theses that have been written on the plebiscite over the last quarter-century uniformly credit the anti-Pinochet forces’ grass-roots effort to register 7.5 million Chileans as pivotal to their success at the polls, but that is a subject that Mr. Larraín does not address. |
| José Miguel Vivanco, the director of Human Rights Watch Americas, is a Chilean who in 1988 served as a poll watcher on voting day. Though he said he likes “No,” which he described as “a good effort to show a pretty accurate picture of Chile in the ‘80s,” he also stressed the importance of the opposition’s long-term ground game. | José Miguel Vivanco, the director of Human Rights Watch Americas, is a Chilean who in 1988 served as a poll watcher on voting day. Though he said he likes “No,” which he described as “a good effort to show a pretty accurate picture of Chile in the ‘80s,” he also stressed the importance of the opposition’s long-term ground game. |
| “The campaign for the No contained a huge component that was the electoral registry,” Mr. Vivanco said in a telephone interview from Washington. Voters “had to be educated about participating in a process that was perceived by many as not legitimate. How do you persuade people to take this seriously” when many were convinced that the Pinochet side “will engage in fraud, will use me, will never allow themselves to lose?” | “The campaign for the No contained a huge component that was the electoral registry,” Mr. Vivanco said in a telephone interview from Washington. Voters “had to be educated about participating in a process that was perceived by many as not legitimate. How do you persuade people to take this seriously” when many were convinced that the Pinochet side “will engage in fraud, will use me, will never allow themselves to lose?” |
| “All of that was obviously a big component, and it’s true it is not part of the film at all,” Mr. Vivanco added. “But I went to see a movie, not a PBS piece.” | “All of that was obviously a big component, and it’s true it is not part of the film at all,” Mr. Vivanco added. “But I went to see a movie, not a PBS piece.” |
| Mr. Larraín acknowledged the importance of the registration effort, calling it amazing. But he also argued that when confronted with the limits of cinema, he trusted his own instincts and interests. | Mr. Larraín acknowledged the importance of the registration effort, calling it amazing. But he also argued that when confronted with the limits of cinema, he trusted his own instincts and interests. |
| “I had a four-and-a-half-hour first cut, with pretty much everything in it,” he said. “But a movie is not a testament. It’s just the way we looked at it. I thought I wanted to stay on the marketing side because it means more for me.” | “I had a four-and-a-half-hour first cut, with pretty much everything in it,” he said. “But a movie is not a testament. It’s just the way we looked at it. I thought I wanted to stay on the marketing side because it means more for me.” |
| In Chile the debate about “No” has also been complicated by noncinematic issues, including Mr. Larraín’s descent from two prominent right-wing families that supported Pinochet. His father, Hernán, is a senator who was also president of the main pro-Pinochet party, and his mother, Magdalena Matte, who served as a cabinet minister in Chile’s current conservative government, belongs to a branch of perhaps the richest family in the country. | In Chile the debate about “No” has also been complicated by noncinematic issues, including Mr. Larraín’s descent from two prominent right-wing families that supported Pinochet. His father, Hernán, is a senator who was also president of the main pro-Pinochet party, and his mother, Magdalena Matte, who served as a cabinet minister in Chile’s current conservative government, belongs to a branch of perhaps the richest family in the country. |
| There is no exact American parallel, but it is almost as if a director whose father is a Tea Party leader and whose mother comes from the Koch family were to make a movie aboutbBarack Obama. In some quarters of both the political and the artistic worlds, Mr. Larraín, 36, is suspected of disguising himself as an admirer of the No campaign to advance a right-wing agenda that focuses on a heroic outsider instead of collective action by the center and left. | |
| “Here Larraín shows his more conservative profile,” Matías Sánchez wrote in the magazine El Ciudadano. The film, he added, reflects “the crisis of identity of Pablo Larraín himself, who debates between advertising and film, between right and left, between being an aristocrat in Chile and a political filmmaker abroad.” | “Here Larraín shows his more conservative profile,” Matías Sánchez wrote in the magazine El Ciudadano. The film, he added, reflects “the crisis of identity of Pablo Larraín himself, who debates between advertising and film, between right and left, between being an aristocrat in Chile and a political filmmaker abroad.” |
| Mr. Larraín acknowledged that his background is in some respects a liability, noting that “with my two last names there are people who write Pablo Larraín Matte six times in the review, with capital letters,” to call attention to his family’s links to the right wing. But he bristled at the notion that his parentage should disqualify him from addressing the plebiscite. | Mr. Larraín acknowledged that his background is in some respects a liability, noting that “with my two last names there are people who write Pablo Larraín Matte six times in the review, with capital letters,” to call attention to his family’s links to the right wing. But he bristled at the notion that his parentage should disqualify him from addressing the plebiscite. |
| Perhaps some people are upset “because this movie is going to spread all over the world and is something that will be seen in politics classes,” he said. “Maybe they don’t want the story told that way. But what I think they really don’t like is that it’s me who is telling this story, because of my biography, my last names, the people who surround me, my parents, whatever.” | Perhaps some people are upset “because this movie is going to spread all over the world and is something that will be seen in politics classes,” he said. “Maybe they don’t want the story told that way. But what I think they really don’t like is that it’s me who is telling this story, because of my biography, my last names, the people who surround me, my parents, whatever.” |
| Mr. Arriagada’s concerns are different. Because the No campaign triumphed, he has been in demand ever since as an adviser to societies trying to effect a peaceful transition to democracy from dictatorship, first in Latin America and then in Arab countries. He worries that because “No” is being released around the world, its simplified message will be taken as real. | Mr. Arriagada’s concerns are different. Because the No campaign triumphed, he has been in demand ever since as an adviser to societies trying to effect a peaceful transition to democracy from dictatorship, first in Latin America and then in Arab countries. He worries that because “No” is being released around the world, its simplified message will be taken as real. |
| Signs suggest that is starting to happen, just as the generation of Mr. Arriagada, who just turned 70, once looked to Gillo Pontecorvo’s “Battle of Algiers” as a how-to manual to conduct urban guerrilla warfare. Mr. García Bernal, for example, told of how, when “No” was shown at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival — where he won an award for best actor — locals were eager to learn more about Chile’s experience. | Signs suggest that is starting to happen, just as the generation of Mr. Arriagada, who just turned 70, once looked to Gillo Pontecorvo’s “Battle of Algiers” as a how-to manual to conduct urban guerrilla warfare. Mr. García Bernal, for example, told of how, when “No” was shown at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival — where he won an award for best actor — locals were eager to learn more about Chile’s experience. |
| “That’s not the way that it happens,” Mr. Arriagada said of the process depicted in the film. “If it were, it would be great, and we would open offices in Washington or New York and overthrow dictators everywhere. This is too good to be true.” | “That’s not the way that it happens,” Mr. Arriagada said of the process depicted in the film. “If it were, it would be great, and we would open offices in Washington or New York and overthrow dictators everywhere. This is too good to be true.” |
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