Gael Garcia Bernal says NO! in politically charged Pinochet movie
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Gael Garcia Bernal’s Oscar nominated film NO has been described as a Latin American masterpiece. And is part of a trend for finding a little feel-good story in a big political furore. Queue Argo, Frost/Nixon and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.
This particular one centres around the pending regime change in Chile. Due to external pressures, fascist dictator General Pinochet was forced to hold elections to legitimise his government (despite being given office by his powerful American friends to overthrow the socialist leader Allande).
The General thought he has this all sewn up, granted the opposition just 15 minutes a day airtime for their NO campaign. This was scheduled to be aired during the graveyard shift. His team of archaic advisors proposed presenting the General in his civvies to show a more human side to the man who ordered the genocide of anyone who opposed him and turned around Chile’s economic fortunes from a Marxist policy to a capitalist one.
The movie opens with Bernal’s character, Rene Saavedra, a successful advertising exec and former political exile pimping out fizzy pop to the masses. Chile is shown as a forward thinking, prosperous country. Not one closed off from the world, queuing for morsels of bread. He’s then approached by the country’s communist leader to help them run the NO campaign in a last ditch attempt to overthrow Pinochet’s tyranny.
The movie looks and feels that its footage taken straight from the archives. It’s grainy imagery and shaky camera work makes the movie feel more like a documentary. There are parts of the movie where (I think) real footage taken from the time was integrated into the movie, but it was hard to tell. Bernal plays the character well, juxtaposing Westernised lifestyle with political ideology. It gently touches on his private life, his son whom he lives with in a lovely home and the political activist ex-wife.
It mentions Pinochet atrocities like killing over 3,000 people, torturing about 29,000 and forcing another 200,000 into exile, just for openly opposing his rule. It focuses on the NO campaign, selling freedom in the way you’d sell trainers. Showing the Chilean public that despite being more prosperous, there is no price on the ability to vote, speak and live freely if you voted NO. It used humour to sell a lifestyle and the benefits of living without Pinochet.
This story was clever. It gave you an insight, not just into a country’s political history, but also into the human psyche. Sex something up enough and you could sell snow to Eskimos. And the real cost of freedom. In an age where we’re ruled by social media and are bombarded by marketing noise, every minute of every day, with advertisers clambering to find the next big internet sensation, it was good to see how marketing can be used for good, not just money.
First published
The General thought he has this all sewn up, granted the opposition just 15 minutes a day airtime for their NO campaign. This was scheduled to be aired during the graveyard shift. His team of archaic advisors proposed presenting the General in his civvies to show a more human side to the man who ordered the genocide of anyone who opposed him and turned around Chile’s economic fortunes from a Marxist policy to a capitalist one.
The movie opens with Bernal’s character, Rene Saavedra, a successful advertising exec and former political exile pimping out fizzy pop to the masses. Chile is shown as a forward thinking, prosperous country. Not one closed off from the world, queuing for morsels of bread. He’s then approached by the country’s communist leader to help them run the NO campaign in a last ditch attempt to overthrow Pinochet’s tyranny.
The movie looks and feels that its footage taken straight from the archives. It’s grainy imagery and shaky camera work makes the movie feel more like a documentary. There are parts of the movie where (I think) real footage taken from the time was integrated into the movie, but it was hard to tell. Bernal plays the character well, juxtaposing Westernised lifestyle with political ideology. It gently touches on his private life, his son whom he lives with in a lovely home and the political activist ex-wife.
It mentions Pinochet atrocities like killing over 3,000 people, torturing about 29,000 and forcing another 200,000 into exile, just for openly opposing his rule. It focuses on the NO campaign, selling freedom in the way you’d sell trainers. Showing the Chilean public that despite being more prosperous, there is no price on the ability to vote, speak and live freely if you voted NO. It used humour to sell a lifestyle and the benefits of living without Pinochet.
This story was clever. It gave you an insight, not just into a country’s political history, but also into the human psyche. Sex something up enough and you could sell snow to Eskimos. And the real cost of freedom. In an age where we’re ruled by social media and are bombarded by marketing noise, every minute of every day, with advertisers clambering to find the next big internet sensation, it was good to see how marketing can be used for good, not just money.
First published
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