[ Manuela Martelli’s new film examines the Pinochet dictatorship
through the eyes of a woman who never intended to play an active
role.]
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PORTSIDE CULTURE

‘CHILE ’76’ REVIEW: DOMESTIC UNEASE THAT TWISTS INTO INTRIGUE
 
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Teo Bugbee
May 4, 2023
The New York Times
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_ Manuela Martelli’s new film examines the Pinochet dictatorship
through the eyes of a woman who never intended to play an active role.
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Poster art for Chile 76, Fandango

 

In 1973, the socialist government of Chile was overthrown by a
military junta led by Gen‌‌. Augusto Pinochet, with the backing
of the United States.
[[link removed]] Thousands
were killed, and hundreds of thousands fled the country under
Pinochet’s dictatorship, which lasted for 17 years and was
maintained through violence. ‌

With the new film “Chile ’76,” the director Manuela Martelli
joins the company of Chilean filmmakers like Pablo Larraín and
Sebastián Leilo, who have made thought-provoking movies reflecting on
the Pinochet regime and its impact on the lives of everyday people.
Martelli’s initial inspiration for the story came from a source
close to home. She imagined the loss felt by her grandmother, who died
by suicide in 1976, one of the most violent years of the dictatorship,
before Martelli was born.

The protagonist of “Chile ’76” is Carmen (Aline Küppenheim), a
regal woman of middle age. She’s a grandmother and a career flight
attendant who now lives a comfortably bourgeois lifestyle with her
husband in Santiago. When the story begins, she’s in the process of
overseeing renovations to her family’s beachside vacation home.
Carmen occupies her time alone with charitable work, guided by the
sanguine priest of the town, Father Sánchez (Hugo Medina).

Carmen is discomforted by the sanctioned brutality around her —
early on, she witnesses distraught neighbors being dragged away in the
streets. But Carmen’s comfortable existence is not directly
disrupted until Father Sánchez asks her to care for a fugitive hidden
in the church. She acquiesces, nursing Elías (Nicolás Sepúlveda), a
wounded revolutionary, back to health. She transports antibiotics for
his injuries, and lies to the suspicious authorities to cover her
tracks. Anxiety becomes Carmen’s constant companion as telephones
buzz on lines that might be tapped, and neighbors pry, posing
inconvenient questions.

Martelli’s film demonstrates remarkable skill in reconstructing he
time period, giving consideration both to recreating the appearance of
the era and its emotional tenor. She filmed in beach towns that have
remained relatively unaltered since the ’70s, and she complements
the look of crumbling building facades with wood-paneled interior
sets. It’s a world that’s both worn and warm; even the wallpaper
comes in cozy plaid.

Yet Martelli’s detailed, beautiful frames aren’t signs of empty
aestheticism. Her eye for composition mirrors that of her protagonist,
a person of elegant tastes who is drawn into a political plot that
intrudes upon her capacity to redesign. The film’s original score
blends electronic and orchestral music, and acts as an indicator of
Carmen’s justified paranoia, entering in moments when her routines
are most disturbed. As an entrant into the growing canon of Chilean
films responding to the Pinochet dictatorship, “Chile ’76” is a
sly genre exercise, an example of how political repression can squeeze
a domestic melodrama until it takes the shape of a spy thriller.

CHILE ’76
Not rated. In Spanish, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 35
minutes. In theaters.

 

 

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* Film
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* Film Review
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* Chile 76
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* Manuella Martinelli
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* Chile
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* Pinochet
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