Ginza.se Medtner: Piano Concerto No 2 / Piano Quintet

I am quite surprised that a movie about such a dramatic moment in the history of Chile could not convey the need for change, empathy and anxiety about what may happen to the ones involved or the actual link between the campaign and the result. And despite its high acclaim and the interesting subject, I was not impressed by the picture quality or the bumpy camera work and light flaring affects nor by the actors who seemed unconnected and unemotional.

It's slow, it's dry, it's deliberately ugly, and you know how the story will end. If you grab some popcorn and expect to be entertained, No will bore you to death, but if you have any interest in the mechanisms of democracy, marketing, and the ways they intersect, the film won't disappoint you. Just treat it as a quasi-documentary meant to educate, to portray the events Wikipedia-style and nothing more.

For a historical drama about a brutal dictator, this film sure lacked suspense or a sense of the terror that Pinochet was. Maybe that was the essence of the "NO" campaign but it surely was not was the dictatorship represented. If you knew nothing about Chile under Pinochet, this film did little to educate you. I was also disappointed in the low key, nonchalant approach Garcia to his character,. Maybe that was accurate but he was so passive as to be unbelievable to me. I did learn something but I felt like I got only the tip of the iceberg.

This is a good film about a people who are given a sliver of an opportunity to attempt a task with impossible odds (overthrowing a dictator via an election) with impossible goals (getting every political party to agree on a tactic of fun advertising counter to the instinct of exposing the horrible crimes of a dictator). Shot on video tape seen in the 80s, it feels more like a documentary from the time than a film of reflection. Political junkies and historians will like this movie as well as those who enjoy "David vs Goliath" films.

Gael Garcia Bernal is the only pro of the entire flick. The movie has a good premise, and a strong story, but at the begining of the second act starts to fall apart, and the characters feels less and less important. At the end the movie is a mess.