No (2012)

Directed by: Pablo Larraín
Country: Chile / France / USA

Review: Pablo Larraín deserves a place of merit among contemporary filmmakers. “Tony Manero” and “Post Mortem” confirm that. “No” represents a turning point on his career, since the movies mentioned above had obsession as theme, while this one is purely political. It covers the 1988’s advertising campaigns in Chile, in a time that the country was preparing to decide about the continuity of dictator Pinochet as president. Gael Garcia Bernal is the protagonist, playing a visionary advertiser that led the campaign of No against fear, not without some of it due to the threats received. Its start was not so strong, but the film evolved resolutely towards the overpowering final moments. “No” was able to depict the atmosphere lived in Chile at that time: the machinations, the intimidations, the suspicions, the thoughts, and the relentless anxiety or fear. A strange, dazzling light was used within a simple direction, in a respectable film where the ideas reign in detriment of technical details.