My timing for this article couldn’t have been any better. Yesterday, the nominees for the 85th Academy Awards were announced and among 2012’s elite group of films was Pablo Larrain’s NO, a Chilean film that’s now up for Best Foreign Language Film. Larrain’s feature is a down to Earth piece of cinema that sheds light on an inspiring event that may not be well known to the younger generations, but it makes you want to go out and do some homework on it after the credits finish rolling.
NO is set in 1988 Chile, when pressure had been mounting from the international community for dictator Augusto Pinochet to hold a plebiscite, allowing the country’s citizens to vote yes or no to Pinochet extending his rule over the country for another eight years. With this unique opportunity to speak out, leaders of the NO party recruit a young and successful ad executive, Rene Saavedra (Gael Garcia Bernal), to lead their campaign against Pinochet in hopes that the country will vote NO. With limited resources, careers and lives threatened and under the constant watch of the regime, Saavedra and his team come up with an ingenuous campaign in hopes of winning the election and setting Chile free.
NO is not only an inspiring film for a variety of people, but its subject matter is very relevant as people continue to struggle for their freedom in other parts of the world. On the one hand, it’s a fascinating look at how advertising can drastically affect politics and how challenging the status quo can be the greatest factor in allowing your product to succeed (think of the “Hope” campaign when Obama was first elected). The idea of using the theme of happiness in a time when people are scared and want their issues to be heard is a bold move, but one that ultimately can’t be trumped by anything. On the other hand, the film focuses on the citizens’ struggle to be heard and it’s inspiring to see those willing to go out on the ledge and take great risks to be free, especially if you’ve never experienced the kind of pain the Chilean population experienced during Pinochet’s reign.
NO is also a very unique film, specifically because of its aesthetic. The movie was apparently shot with a U-matic camera, a videocassette based camera that was introduced to the market in the early 70s and became popular in the television broadcast industry. As a result, this film looks like it was shot in the 70s or 80s, making it feel as authentic as humanly possible. It has a grainy film quality to it as well as issues with color, but that’s what you’d expect the quality to be from the cameras of that era and makes it all feel real. The film features a ton of real footage from the actual campaign as well as other n
ews bits and at times it becomes nearly impossible to tell between the real footage and the footage Lorrain shot. Furthermore, as if it needed to look any more like a third world movie, the aspect ratio is 4×3, the same ratio as your tube TV (if you still have one) and shows pre-HD.
My only issue with the film is how tedious it gets when it shows all of the real historical commercial spots. Each party is allotted 15 minutes each day for 28 days to sway the country’s citizens to vote either yes or no, the problem is that it feels like we are watching all of the videos back to back. I felt that too many clips of the various campaign spots where shown either in a row or throughout the film. It felt like we watched 10-15 minutes of campaign footage which is a little much once you get through the first seven minutes of the various clips. It lost its luster, and, since we’re not living in 1988 Chile, it doesn’t make sense to show us that much footage to make a point. The dragging of those scenes make the movie feel a lot longer than two hours, but that’s my only problem with it.
NO is a worthy contender for this year’s Best Foreign Film, but I don’t think it will win it due to the popularity and subject matter of Amour. The film is one of the most aesthetically unique films I’ve seen this year and it’s quite refreshing in an age where digital dominates the screen. With a superb cast, excellent performances and featuring a wonderful balance of excitement, humor, turmoil and thrills, Pablo Larrain’s NO will end up being the best political film you’ll see all year that isn’t about politics.
Rating: Fascinating for marketing students but thrilling for all (7.4)
Recent Comments