REVIEW: El Club [The Club] [2015]

“Has it ever occurred to you that you’re a criminal?” This is a film about deafening silence and how one unexpected intrusion can turn the normalcy of its sequestered solitude on its head. It’s a silence we have seen before a couple months ago in Spotlight—there too it was extracted from secret penance to the penal system of public consciousness. Pablo Larraín‘s vision is on a much smaller scale although the ramifications are just as brutally blunt and far-reaching. For him the issue wasn’t exposing the crimes of Catholic priests…

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TIFF12 REVIEW: No [2012]

“Happiness is coming” What began with a coup ended by the courage of a select group of citizens believing Chile was ready to think about their future. Without bloodshed, bullets, or illegal maneuvering, a misguided attempt by dictator General Pinochet to let the world know he had his country’s support became his ultimate downfall. After legalizing political parties, pressure from the US in 1988 called for the General to issue a plebiscite vote to decide whether or not to extend his reign by eight years. Allowing political detractors to advertise…

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REVIEW: Santiago 73, post mortem [Post Mortem] [2011]

“Congratulations. You now serve the Chilean Army.” Taking the formula he used in Tony Manero one step further, writer/director Pablo Larraín‘s Venice Film Festival Golden Lion award-winning film Santiago 73, post mortem [Post Mortem] assures the world he is a director worth your time. Retaining his trademark shooting style that lingers way longer than comfort should allow, we are thrust into the action by sifting through its aftermath. Always hearing destruction off-screen or seeing it on the edges of the frame, it’s the methodical tracking shots through empty streets with…

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