No (***)

Did Ronald Reagan’s economic policies win him a landslide reelection in 1984, or was it his “Morning in America” ad campaign? Did Barack Obama win in 2008 because of his plans to reform health care or because of all those indelible “Hope” posters and message of “change”? Probably the answer to these questions is, some of each, but it’s accepted wisdom that even the best ideas need to be sold, even if the idea is overturning a dictator. This movie stars Gael Garcia Bernal as a hotshot young ad exec tapped to encourage his fellow Chileans to turn out Augusto Pinochet in a referendum held in October 1988. Pinochet had deposed the democratically elected Salvador Allende in a 1973 coup but retained support among much of the middle class.


By 1988, international pressure had led the government to follow through on plans for a plebiscite that would say “yes” or “no” to eight more years of Pinochet. Each side would, for one month, present a series of 15-minute ads on television. This movie follows Bernal’s character as he pushes for an upbeat campaign modeled after the ones he’d done for soft drinks and other products, one that focuses less on the atrocities committed by the dictatorship and more on the idea of a happy future for all.

While the pithy title might suggest a breezy comedy, and there are a few funny moments, the approach is somewhat like a docudrama. The virtual absence of a music score contributes to this. I liked the lack of glibness. The movie shows the debates over strategy in what seems to be a realistic way. Though the campaign is upbeat, discussions of the “disappeared” also make their way onto the air. The characters are on the flat side. The adman’s relationships with his son and ex(or estranged?)-wife are without emotional weight. (I thought the wife was his sister until halfway through the movie, and the boy barely has any lines.) Somewhat better is his relationship with his boss, who favors the Pinochet side. Another thing I liked was that the film does not entirely demonize Pinochet, showing the government’s repressive side while showing that many Chileans welcomed the stability Pinochet had brought. This is not the first place to look for an understanding of Chile or the legacy of Pinochet, but it’s decent on its own terms.

IMDb link

viewed 3/27/13 7:10 at Ritz 5 and reviewed 3/27/13