Review of No (2012) by Mikael K — 28 May 2014

Chile, the year 1988. After being in power for 15 years, dictator Augusto Pinochet has been forced by international pressure to concede to a national vote about a new 8 year period of reign. The vote is simple. Vote "Yes" if you want Pinochet to continue in power, "No" if you want him out. His win seems inevitable with passive or fearful citizens not seeing the vote as a true option. But certain people in the until-then silent left-wing opposition are feeling ungrounded hope. Maybe they won't win, but with all eyes on Chile, the election might be an opening for a democratic process of some kind.

The movie is based on the story of the campaign for "No". Always charismatic Gael García Bernal stars as Rene Saavedra, an adman hired to help. He soon shoots down ideas of factual ads citing human rights violations and military acts and decides to go the way of comedy. His lightweight approach is doubted by many, but it emerges as surprisingly effective. In a country where news are inseparable from propaganda, ideas matter more than facts. Both sides have 15 minutes a day of TV time to make their case, and opinions are shifting slowly. But will the people have the courage to actually vote? All the hard work going into the campaign is overshadowed by a constant sense of threat from the government.

The film- as well as the play it's based on- has been criticized for simplifying the events, but this is actually surprisingly obvious while watching it. There is a strong aesthetic twist to director Pablo Larraín's storytelling. "No" looks like a grainy VHS tape, heavy on period elements. Just like the actual TV ads that we get to see plenty of. they are the true soul of the flick, bringing in a dash of dreamlike authenticity that doesn't claim to be detailed.

The impossible campaign succeeded and democracy ultimately arrived in Chile again. "No" captures this moment of celebrated political magic quite well. It manages to handle serious, frightening times and themes through entertaining means without sacrificing its substance, just as the TV ads did. This is an easy, informative and smart film that truly manages to invoke a sense of hope and optimism without being too cheesy or naíve.