Post Mortem (2010 film)
| Post Mortem | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Pablo Larraín |
| Written by | Pablo Larraín |
| Starring | |
|
Release dates
|
<templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
|
Running time
|
98 minutes |
| Country | Chile |
| Language | Spanish |
Post Mortem is a 2010 Chilean film directed by Pablo Larraín and set during the 1973 military coup that overthrew former President Salvador Allende, inaugurating the 17-year dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The film competed in the 67th Venice International Film Festival, Antofagasta Film Festival, Havana Film Festival and the Guadalajara International Film Festival. The film's main character Mario Cornejo is based on a real person with the same name.[1]
Plot
Mario (Alfredo Castro) is a pathologist's assistant in Santiago who is responsible for noting down the pathologist's commentary during the post mortem. The job has given him a grey, deathlike appearance. Previously, in the days of the military coup, Mario became involved in a love affair with a show dancer, Nancy (Antonia Zegers), who lives across the street with her younger brother David and her father, a communist and Allende supporter. On the morning of September 11, the date of the coup, a military raid takes place in Nancy’s house. Her brother and father are arrested. Mario then begins a frantic search for Nancy, who has disappeared, all the while having to endure pressure from the military who want to hide the real cause of death of the bodies piling up in the morgue.
Critics
The film has been well received by the critics and considered further proof of Larraín’s talent, previously noted in Tony Manero. It received four stars from both The Guardian, which called it “an eerie portrait of a disturbing time”[2] and Time Out, which praised the “humorously unconventional framings, expressively washed-out colour tones and mysterious low-key performances” that bring together “human comedy and historical tragedy to unique, and surprisingly emotional, effect.”.[3] The New York Times critic A. O. Scott wrote that “the achievement of Post Mortem is to take rigorous and unsentimental measure of the unpleasantness”.[4] Post Mortem has also been popular on the Rotten Tomatoes public film reviews website, where it currently (as at May 2016) has an 72% approval rate[5]
Cast
- Alfredo Castro - Mario Cornejo
- Antonia Zegers - Nancy Puelma (Bim Bam Bum dancer)
- Jaime Vadell - Dr. Castillo
- Amparo Noguera - Sandra
- Marcelo Alonso - Victor
- Marcial Tagle - Captain Montes
- Santiago Graffigna - David Puelma
- Ernesto Malbrán - Arturo Puelma
- Aldo Parodi - Director of Bim Bam Bum
Awards
- Venice International Film Festival: Official Selection[6][7]
- Antofagasta Film Festival[8] - Best Film[9]
- Antofagasta Film Festival - Best Actress (Antonia Zegers)
- Havana Film Festival[10] - Second Prize Coral
- Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana - Best Actress (Antonia Zegers)
- Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana - Best Actor (Alfredo Castro)
- Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana - Best Screenplay
- Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana - FIPRESCI Award[11]
- Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena[12] - Best Picture[13]
- Festival Internacional de Cine de Guadalajara[14] - Best Picture[15]
- Festival Internacional de Cine de Guadalajara - Best Actor (Alfredo Castro)
- Festival Internacional de Cine de Guadalajara - Best Cinematography (Sergio Armstrong)
See also
References
- ↑ Projecting and Excavating the Past: An Interview with Pablo Larraín Film Comment, 19 April 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ↑ Post Mortem review The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw, September 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ↑ Post Mortem review Time Out, Wally Hammond, 6 September 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ↑ A Quiet File Clerk at the Epicenter of Political Turmoil New York Times, A. O. Scott, 10 April 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ↑ Post Mortem Reviews Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ↑ Venice International Film Festival
- ↑ Venice International Film Festival Official selection by country labiennale.org. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
- ↑ Antofagasta Film Festival Website
- ↑ Post Mortem gana mejor película en el Festival de Antofagasta www.cinechile.cl, 15 November 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
- ↑ Havana Film Festival Website
- ↑ Cinta chilena Post Mortem gana cinco premios en La Habana www.thisischile.cl, 20 December 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
- ↑ Cartagena Film Festival Website
- ↑ La película chilena 'Post Mortem' ganó el Festival Internacional de Cartagena www.semana.com - 3 March 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
- ↑ Guadalajara International Film Festival Website
- ↑ Post Mortem takes top prize www.hollywoodreporter.com, 4 January 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
