Review of No (2012) by Trevor J — 05 Mar 2013

Captivating Chilean social drama starring Gael García Bernal as young advertising creative René who is hired to produce a left-wing political campaign. It's 1988 and Chile's violent military dictator, General Pinochet, plans to give his dictatorship a veil of legitimacy to the world outside by offering the public a referendum to determine whether he will extend his rule for another eight years. With two possible answers - Yes or No - on the ballot, both camps are permitted 15 minutes of TV every day for the month preceding the vote to support their campaigns. In what is understandably considered a hollow gesture with no chance of change, a small group of Pinochet's opponents and advertising creatives take it upon themselves to create a campaign for the 'No' vote, attempting to capture the imagination of the nation and at least deliver a small chance of defeating the tyrannical regime and the possibility of future democracy.

'No' feels incredibly authentic - believably of the time period thanks in no small part to being shot in a TV 16:9 ratio. Making use of vintage cameras and equipment, it has a grainy home movie quality throughout. In no way a gimmick, this is so beautifully executed it always looks genuinely from the 80s, enabling it to be seamlessly intercut with footage from the actual TV campaigns and news reports of the time. Something powerful happens in seeing these snippets of real life as part of the drama in a way that feels organic - unlike other docudramas or political thrillers where actual events tend to seem distant from the human dramas taking place. Although a political film it is more focused on the life of René, a man who though opposed to Pinochet has fared well under the modernisation of the country during his reign, producing successful Americanised commercials, driving a sports car and caring for his young son. But he feels an internalised conflict about what he should personally do - in a system where only the few can succeed, his life is more than comfortable. The eternally great Bernal delivers a superb natural performance that communicates all of this silently, and often the direction is so quiet and the cast so strong that the footage would be indistinguishable from old Chilean home movies.

Fantastically well-paced, it remains absorbing throughout and although primarily a fictionalised human drama, it still works as an informative document of Chile's social unrest of the recent past. An important well-crafted film that turns a potentially dry story into an accessible, absorbing piece of cinema.