• Reviews
    • Watch This
    • VODepths
  • Humor
  • On the Marquee
  • Looking Back
    • Classic Corner
    • Anniversary
  • Film Fests
  • Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
Crooked Marquee
  • Reviews
    • Watch This
    • VODepths
  • Humor
  • On the Marquee
  • Looking Back
    • Classic Corner
    • Anniversary
  • Film Fests
Home
Reviews

Review: Chile ‘76

May 4th, 2023 Kimber Myers 78
Review: Chile ‘76

Disillusion with the U.S. government in the ‘70s fueled the creation of the conspiracy thrillers of the era — and made them resonate with audiences on a deeper level than they might have if the country was everything its citizens were promised. Chile ‘76 may have been made decades later and a continent away from its American brethren, but this unblinking Chilean thriller set during the Pinochet regime fits alongside those classics both in spirit and style. With her first film, writer-director Manuela Martelli would make Alan J. Pakula proud as she revisits a tumultuous time in her country. 

In the opening scenes of Chile ‘76, the dictator’s rule—and all the associated torture and death—is merely a “bummer” to Carmen (Aline Küppenheim), who refuses to listen to the serious news of her country on the radio. Though she lives in its capital city of Santiago, she is less concerned with Augusto Pinochet than she is with the winter renovation of her family’s summer home at the beach and finding the perfect shade of paint for its walls. 

However, when her priest (Hugo Medina) asks Carmen to harbor a wounded man (Nicolás Sepúlveda) in her home, she agrees, being the good woman of faith she is. Padre Sánchez tells her that the young man is a petty criminal, but she soon realizes he is an enemy of the state. Carmen’s easy upper-middle-class existence erodes, with the everyday concerns of being a grandmother in a wealthy family replaced by clandestine meetings, secret codes, and nursing gruesome injuries. Küppenheim is perfectly cast in the role, giving Carmen a sophisticated, composed facade that begins to crumble as danger mounts. She tries to keep up the appearances of her normal life, but her two worlds cannot remain entirely separate as she takes bigger and bigger risks to protect this man. 

Though just 95 minutes, Chile ‘76 takes time to ramp up as Carmen’s life is transformed by her actions. It moves through its opening act slowly (sometimes too slowly), though its pace matches Carmen’s own unrushed, unbothered state. However, as the film progresses, her level of anxiety rightly increases, raising the tension — and the audience’s blood pressure. Chile ‘76 never escalates into the big set pieces often present in these types of films; instead, a quiet unease exists even in the calmer moments as Carmen realizes how close she has brought the threat to her home, all by merely doing the right thing. Martelli’s script asks what are the consequences when we are forced to confront the evil happening around us, even if we once tried to ignore it. 


Chile ‘76 might possess some of the same cool DNA as essentials like Pakula’s All the President’s Men and The Parallax View, but centering the film on a grandmother (admittedly, quite a chic one, thanks to costume designer Pilar Calderon) sets this apart from its predecessors. Those films might have given women a secondary role, but rarely one operating solo, much less in her 50s. Martelli correctly points out that these crises don’t just affect men; they seep into all levels of society and everyone’s personal lives. 

Meanwhile, the impeccably tailored clothes from costumer Calderon don’t just contribute to characterization of Carmen’s status and life. They’re also just one piece of the film’s unified look, filled with a saturated palette of scarlet, cobalt, and ochre that is echoed throughout the production design by Estefania Larrain. Cinematographer Soledad Rodríguez captures it all with artful framing and shot composition, catching Carmen in mirrors and through windows, surrounded by primary colors. She’s being watched — perhaps not only by the audience — and it’s impossible to look away, given the beauty on screen.

Chile ‘76 marks an assured debut for Martelli. The easy route would have been for the filmmaker to go bigger for the movie’s thrills, relying on chase sequences and larger-than-life scenes to drive the tension. Instead, it lurks along the edges of Carmen’s domestic existence, making Chile ‘76 feel closer to what reality may have looked like for those under Pinochet’s rule while still creating a powerful, unnerving film. 

“Chile ‘76” is out Friday in limited release.

B+

  • Tags
  • movie review

Share this post:

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest E-mail
Kimber Myers

Kimber Myers

Kimber Myers is a freelance film and TV critic for 'The Los Angeles Times' and other outlets. Her day job is at a tech company in their content studio, and she has also worked at several entertainment-focused startups, building media partnerships, developing content marketing strategies, and arguing for consistent use of the serial comma in push notification copy.

Related Posts
Review: <i>You Hurt My Feelings</i>
Kimber Myers
Reviews

Review: You Hurt My Feelings

May 25th, 2023
Review: <i>About My Father</i>
Craig D. Lindsey
Reviews

Review: About My Father

May 25th, 2023
Review: <i>Sanctuary</i>
Kimber Myers
Reviews

Review: Sanctuary

May 18th, 2023
Review: <i>The Master Gardener</i>
Jason Bailey
Reviews

Review: The Master Gardener

May 18th, 2023
Review: <i>The Mother</i>
Craig D. Lindsey
Reviews

Review: The Mother

May 11th, 2023
Review: <i>Blackberry</i>
Jason Bailey
Reviews

Review: Blackberry

May 11th, 2023
Trending
May 24th 9:00 AM
Looking Back

The Dark Ocean Endures: Finding Nemo at 20

Jul 20th 9:00 AM
Looking Back

1990: The Year of Danny Elfman

May 30th 9:00 AM
Reviews

The Best Movies to Buy or Stream This Week: Being Mary Tyler Moore, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Night of the Hunter, and More

Oct 27th 11:00 AM
Looking Back

Requiem for a Dream and The Ballad of Sara Goldfarb

Apr 1st 9:15 AM
Looking Back

Classic Corner: Hud

May 20th 9:00 AM
Looking Back

Classic Corner: Coonskin

Apr 13th 9:00 AM
Looking Back

#ReleaseTheRussellCut: Where’s the Uncut Version of The Devils?

Jan 12th 9:00 AM
Movies

The Curious Case of Roderick Jaynes

May 15th 9:00 AM
Movies

Cage Match: Nicolas Cage’s Character Names, Ranked

Mar 31st 9:00 AM
Movies

Why We Miss Meg Ryan So Much

Looking for something else?
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
cmpopcorn_white3.svg
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Contact
    • Writers Guidelines
  • Members
    • Login
    • SignUp
    • Forums
telephone icon [email protected]
envelope icon [email protected]

© 2014- Crooked™ Publishing


Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}