Review of No (2012) by Mark A — 12 Mar 2013

In 1988, after fifteen years of one man rule, Chilean President Augusto Pinochet is forced by international pressure to accede to a plebiscite as to whether he is deserving of another eight year term. Lucho Guzman(Alfredo Castro), an advertising executive, has agreed to work for the yes side. He so believes in his cause that he does not even like his subordinate Rene(Gael Garcia Bernal) talking with Jose Tomas Urrutia(Luis Gnecco) who may or may not be a Communist but is definitely working for the no side to which Rene agrees to work for.

Set at a pivotal point in Chile's history, "No" shows not only how advertising actually managed to do some good for a change but also how it turned a negative to a positive, convincing Chile's population of the need for peaceful revolution, with a lot of inspiration coming from 'We Are the World.' Surprisingly, nobody goes that far below the belt in this year of Willie Horton. In any case, I have to agree with a recent New York Times article in wondering if it cannot possibly be this simple, as there is plenty of history here but no politics, as advertising shows the clueless leftists how it is all done. On the other hand, as much as Rene becomes enlightened over the course of the film, we do get many more scenes of him being a dutiful single father. I mean I love model train sets as much as the next guy but...