Quickfire Reviews #2 (unfinished)

mylo pinto rizvi
May 6, 2024
2 min read

Autumn/Winter Edition

Because I was busy with university work I unfortunatley was only able to write one review. I've decided to publish this as too much time has passed for me to be able to write a genuine review of any of these films.

Chile, Obstinate Memory

★★★★★

Making use of the extensive freely available catalogue of films available on the National Film Board of Canada free streaming service, I have been slowly making my way through this library of films. In the last edition I have already talked about there animated films such as When The Day Breaks. To mark the 50th anniversarry since the events of 11th September 1973 coup d'état, which brought down Salvador Allende's democratic socialist government and resulted in the brutal neofascist Pinochet regime, the NFB curated a list of documentaries on Chile. One such film is Chile, Obstinate Memory which the Film Board boldly describes as "one of the best docs ever produced by the NFB". Such as claim is quite justified as Chile, Obstinate Memory succeeds in what all great documentaries succeeds in, to transcend from being a factual document to being a genuine cinematic experience.

The film follows the director, Patricio Guzman, as he return to his homeland of Chile and screening for the very first time in the country, the Battle of Chile, a documentary film which captured the coup and was banned during the years of the Pinochet rule. The Guzman captures the viewers reactions. The range of viewers filmed gives a vast variety of perspectives. Some are supporters of Allende and some are supporters (or former supporters) of Pinochet. For some the dictatorship is still recent memory, for others they where too young to fully remember it. The film debates the legacy of the coup and more broadley the the legacy of Allende and Pinochet through its variety of interviewies. Its a film about memory and how we choose to remember. It's a powerful portrayal of a fracutured Chile and despite myself being quite oblivious to the history of the country, I found it an emotionally engaging and even harrowing experience. A thouroughly recommended watch.