FILM 15: NO (Chile, Pablo Larraín, 2012), ALEXANDER STREET
- Due No Due Date
- Points 0
No (2012)
Directed by Pablo Larraín (b. 1976)
Screenplay by Pedro Peirano, based on a play by Antonio Skármeta Coproduction of Chile, US, France and Mexico
DVD. 118 mins.
Synopsis:
“The close examination of the 1988 referendum campaign called for by Chile's military dictator Augusto Pinochet provides not only a fascinating peak inside politics, but it also is a true story of how the Chilean people successfully staged a bloodless revolution to free themselves from the power of a dictator. Based on fact as depicted in a play written by Antonio Skármeta, molded into a screenplay by Pedro Peirano,and directed with a keen sense of period by Pablo Larraín, the film uses substantial bits of archival film footage that enhances the impact of this moment in history.” Amazon.com
Cast:
Gael García Bernal René Saavedra
Alfredo Castro Lucho Guzmán
Néstor Cantillana Fernando
Antonia Zegers Verónica Carvajal
Questions:
1. How would you describe the narrative structure and overall tone of this film? How does it compare to those of Post-Mortem?
2. To what extent do you identify with the character of René? What flaws and contradictions are apparent in his behavior?
3. What is the point of including the love story between René and Verónica, parallel to that of the plebiscite?
4. Do you think filming No with cameras from the 1980s, and giving it a grainy 80’s look, enhances the film? (Refer to the Benson article.)
5. There are several scenes in which characters are portrayed as having an ongoing conversation, but as they are talking, the setting around them changes. What effect do these changes have on you as a viewer?
6. Why did Pinochet agree to have a plebiscite? How many of the opposition parties agreed to participate?
7. What was the tone and content of the ads that the NO campaign initially proposed to René? On what grounds did he object to them?
8. How are René’s ads characterized? Why do you think they were so successful?
9. In the commentary that Larraín and García Bernal do for the dvd, they note that the NO campaign successfully used the free-market model imposed on the country by the Pinochet regime, but that ironically, Pinochet’s team failed to use that model in their own ads. Do you think this is true?
10. In what ways were members of the NO campaign team threatened while they were making the TV spots?
11. How did they prevent the plainclothes policemen from intercepting them when they took their ad reels to the television station?
12. Chilean critics of the film argue that it gives the impression that the plebiscite was won solely by virtue of the publicity campaign; do you agree with this interpretation?
13. What is the effect of incorporating the real politicians and advertising executives into the film, and of juxtaposing footage of the performers in 1988 with shots of those same people in 2012? How many Chilean Presidents appear in the film?
14. What is the purpose of the two scenes of René skateboarding through Santiago? How has the city around him changed between these two scenes?
15. In what sense is René’s relationship with his wife, Verónica, nontraditional?
16. What political point of view does Verónica represent throughout the film?
17. What explanation does Simón’s nanny give for why she is planning to vote Yes?
18. Do you think René is right to use his connection with Lucho in order to get Verónica freed from jail? How has the two men’s relationship developed over the course of the film?
19. In what ways do both Alfredo Castro and Antonia Zegers play very different roles in this film from the ones they played in Post-Mortem?
20. What is the significance of the head of the air force telling the media that it is clear to him that the NO has won?
21. Why do you think that René looks sad as he is leaving the victory celebration?
22. How would you describe the ad for the soap opera “Bellas y audaces / Beautiful and Bold” that René makes at the end? What does this suggest about his subsequent career?
23. What does the leitmotif of people eating oranges signify?
Find Rubric