A well crafted and acted movie about a little known episode in history. It is an extraordinary tale about the exceptional individuals who rose to the occasion and managed to purge Chile and the rest of the world of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet without spilling blood, inciting violence or seeking vengeance and reprisals! They did it with a song, steadfast belief in their cause and a lot of hope and faith! "NO" covers the end of the Pinochet dictatorship and the transition of power from the military junta rule through democracy and elections to a civilian government. It is the conclusion of an ugly cycle of violence, tyranny and oppression which started when the democratically elected government of Chilean president Salvador Allende was overthrown in a violent military coup on September 11, 1973 (quite ironic...the date!). It culminated in the ascent to power of general Augusto Pinochet, the head of the military junta.
By the late 1980's, external pressures mainly from the US and Western Europe(as it was at the time) where being put on Pinochet and the junta to take steps towards the democratization of Chile and a relaxation of what was basically governance by military decree.
The pressure coming from the US was quite ironic given the fact that the military coup which deposed Allende was largely the brainchild of Henry Kissinger (who many rightly consider a war criminal) and the CIA. By 1989 the want and need for change was being made even more urgent for the world powers, because the presence of Pinochet no longer fit the global narrative at the time, given the fact that the Berlin Wall was about to come down, Communism was collapsing all over Eastern Europe and the USSR was taking its last gasping breaths of existence. Pinochet was a badly-drawn, nasty caricature of a tin-pot dictator masquerading as a "anti-Communist" fighter and a bulwark against the expansion of Socialism throughout Latin America. By 1989 the jig was up so the US and co. could no longer maintain the farce that was Pinochet. As a result he was pretty much forced to hold a plebiscite...or a referendum,in order to legitimize the continuation of his presidency for another 8 years. That or give up power. This movie covers that campaign, the people involved on both sides "SI" and "NO" (i.e. the title of the movie) and the events that followed.
The movie was shot in such a way that it recreates the Betamax visual style, it was not shot to accommodate a wide-screen frame (at least it wasn't in the movie theatre I went to). It was shot on purpose to recreate the look and texture of the late 80's, a time I am very familiar with since I recall a lot of the events portrayed in the movie.
Gael Garcia Bernal is his usual talented self as is the rest of the cast. The direction and script are competent and do their duty to tell the tale.
This is a good movie but not a great one. Given the events and times portrayed, it lacks a certain gravitas and sense of urgency. Those were heady days, dynamic, electrifying, full of an anxious optimism for the future and the possibilities it entailed. The movie fails to capture that fervour and kinetic energy which made that transition so memorable and vital.
Still given the rubbish which passes for movies these days, I would recommend it, if nothing else as some type of entertaining history lesson of sorts.
By the late 1980's, external pressures mainly from the US and Western Europe(as it was at the time) where being put on Pinochet and the junta to take steps towards the democratization of Chile and a relaxation of what was basically governance by military decree.
The pressure coming from the US was quite ironic given the fact that the military coup which deposed Allende was largely the brainchild of Henry Kissinger (who many rightly consider a war criminal) and the CIA. By 1989 the want and need for change was being made even more urgent for the world powers, because the presence of Pinochet no longer fit the global narrative at the time, given the fact that the Berlin Wall was about to come down, Communism was collapsing all over Eastern Europe and the USSR was taking its last gasping breaths of existence. Pinochet was a badly-drawn, nasty caricature of a tin-pot dictator masquerading as a "anti-Communist" fighter and a bulwark against the expansion of Socialism throughout Latin America. By 1989 the jig was up so the US and co. could no longer maintain the farce that was Pinochet. As a result he was pretty much forced to hold a plebiscite...or a referendum,in order to legitimize the continuation of his presidency for another 8 years. That or give up power. This movie covers that campaign, the people involved on both sides "SI" and "NO" (i.e. the title of the movie) and the events that followed.
The movie was shot in such a way that it recreates the Betamax visual style, it was not shot to accommodate a wide-screen frame (at least it wasn't in the movie theatre I went to). It was shot on purpose to recreate the look and texture of the late 80's, a time I am very familiar with since I recall a lot of the events portrayed in the movie.
Gael Garcia Bernal is his usual talented self as is the rest of the cast. The direction and script are competent and do their duty to tell the tale.
This is a good movie but not a great one. Given the events and times portrayed, it lacks a certain gravitas and sense of urgency. Those were heady days, dynamic, electrifying, full of an anxious optimism for the future and the possibilities it entailed. The movie fails to capture that fervour and kinetic energy which made that transition so memorable and vital.
Still given the rubbish which passes for movies these days, I would recommend it, if nothing else as some type of entertaining history lesson of sorts.