No completes Chilean director Pablo Larrain’s trilogy about the Pinochet regime.
Following Tony Manero and Post Mortem, No covers the last period of the dictator’s presidency, in which Pinochet was forced to call a referendum to legitimise his government due to persistent international pressure.
Two electoral campaigns were formed - one to keep the current government (the ‘Yes’) and one to get rid of it (the ‘No’). The script follows the development of the latter and the involvement of an unlikely knight, Rene Saavedra (Gael Garcia Bernal), an up and coming advertisement executive, who mjay be more passionate about delivering an excellent product than politics.
Like its predecessors, No emphasises the impact that the dictatorship had on the show business and social media in that period. It highlights what an important event it was for the opposition to finally have the chance to share its ideology after years of government controlled news (anyone who has watched documentaries such as The City of Photographers will understand the isolation that Chilean people were facing).
However, No is quite different from the other two films. It is more straightforward and he doesn’t have the art cinema aura, darkness and weirdness that Tony Manero and Post Mortem carried. This does not make it less interesting, quite the opposite, it is probably the most accomplished and well rounded of the three.
Despite being a semi-fictionalised account of the events, it still retains the solemnity and honesty towards the subject and its implications in Chilean history.
The look of the film has a retro vibe to recreate the archival footage of that period as well as the taste of TV commercials of the era.
It is a gripping film in which the not-so-noble, manipulative and cunning advertising industry plays the role of the saviour allowing the good guys to finally win.
Is it the death of political ideology and the rise of pragmatic cynicism? Whatever is your take on the accounts, No will resonate to people and nations that are facing similar oppressions and government censored media.
(English and Vietnamese subtitles available)
Entrance fee: FREE
