Review of No (2012) by Michael H — 13 Apr 2013

"No" is a terrible disappointment. As a movie, it's not very good: repetitive, poorly edited, and extraordinarily ugly. The decision to use outdated videotape for period verisimilitude makes the film seem, not real, but like cheap TV. The characters are one-dimensional, and the tense interpersonal relationships - between Bernal's character and his estranged wife, and between Bernal and another ad man on the "No" campaign - are unexplained and remain unresolved.

And as a history lesson, its message is cynicial and nihilistic: the people of Chile were sold democracy in exactly the same way that they were sold microwave ovens and soap operas; and the plebiscite changed very little in the lives of indiviiduals and in the political life of the country. Maybe that's a legitimate point of view, but the reception of this movie as a celebration of the triumph of democracy is a denial of what is actually up there on the screen.