Several films explore the topic of inequality in Chile, including the social, political and economic factors of the country’s history which we can use to analyse the current situation ahead of a referendum about the constitution created during Pinochet’s regime in the 1980’s (Alarcon, 2020). Three films which investigate this topic from different perspectives are; Machuca (Wood, 2004), which speaks to inequality in education and class structure, The Cordillera of Dreams (Guzman, 2019) which explores censorship and political exile, and No (Larrain, 2012) which follows the campaign to install a democracy in the 1988 referendum . As a Chilean, I have a personal connection with these films, and they have helped me to understand the history of my country and the inequalities that are still experienced today. Growing up in Chile as part of a middle-class family, I can remember the division of political opinions during Sunday lunches within my own family, which I can now see through these films was a parallel to the divisions within the country itself. In 1988, El Mercurio, the right-side conservative newspaper, published on the title page a photograph of myself with Pinochet during a visit to a hospital after I suffered an accident in Santiago, Chile. Although I was an innocent child at the time, I remember the commotion this caused, on one hand my grandfather proudly cut out the photo while at my school, children were told by their parents not to play with me.
Inequality and class divisions are presented in Machuca, a Chilean film released in 2004 directed by Andres Wood, following the relationship between a wealthy boy, and Machuca, his poor school friend whom is a recipient of a scholarship allowing him to attend the same school. The narrative of the movie explores the world of the protagonists and their families influenced by the politics of the Chilean society during the Pinochet military coup in Chile on 11th of September 1973. As noted by Martin-Cabrera some of the techniques the film uses to show the division of class is ‘the constant juxtaposition of visual markers of class (clothing, housing, access to commodities, etc.) and through the experiment of the school and its tragic consequences’ (2007). A clear example of this is during a scene where the characters are trying to escape capture by the army, when Gonzalo exclaims “look at me” referring to his clothing and allowing him to go free knowing he is of a higher class, highlighting the inequality of class. The narrative style of the film helps to create awareness of the political and economic situation of the past through characterisation and shares it globally as a feature film (Grisold, 2017). Martín-Cabrera explains about the radical justice attempts of the film, to bring the historical past into the present to interrupt the reproduction of a neoliberal order predicated on the ongoing exercise of violence to preserve class privileges (2007). Ariel Mateluna, the actor who played Machuca in the film laments “It’s a film recorded 16 years ago, narrating what happened 46 years ago. The first thing that happens to me when I see that it is remembered is that we have not advanced anything as a country”, (L.L.C.,2019). We draw connections between the story in the film to the present-day inequalities and class divisions in Chile.
Another film that compares Chile’s history with the current political situation, is the documentary by Patricio Guzman an exiled filmmaker, The Cordillera of Dreams (2019). In the film, Guzman juxtaposes his experience with that of Pablo Salas, another Chilean film documenter that shares a similar history of filming the political instability in Chile, however he never fled his country despite the great risk he was under. As much of Guzman’s footage documented the violent acts leading to the military coup, he was helped to smuggle the films by Swedish diplomats (Simalchik, 2006, p.100). We can sense the admiration Guzman has for Salas who remained in Chile and continued to film as well as value of the archival footage in maintaining the history and memory of the country. Through this comparison of the two filmmakers’ experiences, the importance of documenting the history of Chile’s political unrest and issues around censorship and equal rights are highlighted. Both film makers captured footage of protests, people being detained, acts of violence by police and military during the dictatorship and the continuing during the democracy. Without the footage captured by the filmmakers and their efforts to protect it, some of the history would have been censored and lost, exposing the inequality of freedom of speech that a dictatorship suppresses. The documentary also uses symbolism of the Cordillera (mountains) as the isolation of Chile during the dictatorship from the region and Guzman sees them as a symbol of the constant witness to the political unrest, even until today. Fuentealba notes the similarities between Salas’ archival footage and the recent large-scale protests in Chile, where military and police used excessive force, including tanks, tear gas and rubber bullets (2020, para. 8).
Issues of censorship and inequality are explored in the film No (Larrain, 2012), set during the 1988 Plebiscite in Chile, mandating the referendum to determine if Pinochet would remain in power, in efforts to legitimise his regime due to international pressures (2012). The ‘no’ campaign were permitted 15 minutes of television broadcast each day (Bradshaw, 2013) and were able to end the dictatorship with their slogan “La alegría ya viene,” or “Happiness is coming.” (Alarcon, 2020). Apart from brief daily timeslot, all television media was controlled by the dictatorship clearly portraying the censorship of information at the time. The films visual style of grainy imagery by being filmed on vintage Sony U-Matic video cameras and sampling the original No advertisements (Dargis, 2013), sets the film in 1980’s television era and we can see the controlled the dictatorship has over the media compared to free and democratic countries. Bradshaw comments on this style, Larraín’s film is simple and direct, heartfelt and involving, shot in a kind of televisual realist style, like the soap operas Saavedra had earlier been promoting (2013). Despite the opportunity to vote against the dictatorship, the film shows the common assumption that the referendum would be rigged in favour of Pinochet. The main character Rene, who creates the No marketing campaign is himself indifferent; Dargis notes, he is ‘vaguely interested in selling the country on life without Pinochet, but what reels him in is the challenge of pitching a superior product’ (2013). Rene is purposely contrasted against his wife, who is a political activist against the dictatorship, highlighting the division of political views and the apathy felt by many people. The ideas in No and the use of media for political campaigns are highly relevant to the current situation in Chile as the country is about to undertake a referendum on the constitution. Chile’s current constitution, reformed more than 40 times during democracy, is seen by a large part of society as the origin of the country’s inequalities due to its neoliberal bend. (Nieto Mariño, 2020).
We can see the connections between these films referencing Chile’s dictatorship past and the current political, social and economic situation of the country. Machuca gives the audience a sense of class divisions and inequalities within the education system through the eyes of children. In The Cordillera of Dreams, we see the impact of censorship and the importance of documenting repression of Chileans in Guzman’s and Salas’ historical footage. No also explores censorship and the control of information through media during the Pinochet dictatorship and is highly relevant to current referendum in Chile, with the majority of Chileans still waiting for Happiness (Alarcon, 2020). According to a 2017 United Nations Development Program study, the wealthiest five per cent of Chilean households hold more than fifty per cent of the wealth, while more than half of salaried workers hardly earn enough to maintain a household (Alarcon, 2020). With inequality still a big issue in Chile, these films help to provide history and context while educating global viewers on topics that have been censored and controlled. Despite the clear inequalities of the past shown in the films and the issues still to improve, I have hope that Chile will bridge the political divide soon as I can see happening within my own family and therefore a more equal economic for all the Chileans.
References
Alarcon, D. 2020 ‘Chile at the barricades’, The New Yorker, 5 October, viewed 17 October 2020, <https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/12/chile-at-the-barricades>
Bradshaw, P. 2013, ‘No-review’, The Guardian, 8 February, viewed 17 October 2020, <https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/07/no-film-review>
Dargis, M. 2013, ‘ Try Freedom: Less Filling! Tastes Great!’, The New York Times, 14 February, viewed 17 October 2020, < https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/movies/no-with-gael-garcia-bernal.html>
Fuentealba, P. 2020, ‘When Chile’s Past Blurs with its Present’, Americas quarterly, 13 January, viewed 20 September 2020 < https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/when-chiles-past-blurs-with-its-present/>
Grisold, A & Theine, H 2017, ‘How Come We Know? The Media Coverage of Economic Inequality’, International Journal of Communication.
Larrain, P, et al., 2012. No, World Movies [broadcaster].
Martín-Cabrera, Luis, & Voionmaa, Daniel Noemi, 2007 ‘Class Conflict, State of Exception and Radical Justice in Machuca by Andrés Wood’. Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies : Travesía, 16(1), 63.
Nieto Mariño, P. 2020, ‘Protest, upcoming referendum shake Chile on anniversary of Pinochet coup’, La prensa Latina media, 11 September, viewed 17 October 2020, < https://www.laprensalatina.com/protests-upcoming-referendum-shake-chile-on-anniversary-of-pinochet-coup/>
Simalchik, J. 2006 “The Material Culture of Chilean Exile: A Transnational Dialogue”, Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 23(2), pp. 95-105. doi: 10.25071/1920-7336.21358.
The Cordillera of dreams 2019, Icarus films, Brooklyn, NY directed by Patricio Guzman.
Translated by ContentEngine, L.L.C. 2019, Ariel Mateluna calls for “let the Machuca of now keep fighting”, English ed. edn, Miami.
Wood, A., et al., 2004. Machuca. [Venice, Calif.], Menemsha Films.
