CHILEANS SAY NO
In 1988, General Augusto Pinochet, having been urged by the United States to hold a referendum on his continued rule according to the film No, opens the political arena for a 27-day campaign. Exactly 15 minutes are accorded to both sides on television each night. The result is that Pinochet is rejected in a close vote for an eight-year term and resigns as president. Directed by Pablo Lorraín, the film portrays the advertising campaigns to get the vote out. Although some attention is devoted to the Yes vote (for Pinochet’s continued rule), most of the focus is on how a shrewd ad executive, René Saavedra (played by Gael García Bernal), prevails over leftist ideologues to develop a sophisticated message to attract No votes. The film is based on the unpublished play El Plebiscito, written by Antonia Skármet, but some involved in the No campaign have completely disavowed the accuracy of the film. Nevertheless, those interested in political advertising will be enlightened by viewing the film and will find the musical elements enjoyable. MH
EMPEROR FOCUSES ON CIVILIAN CLOTHES
During World War II, the American media depicted the leader of Japanese aggression as Emperor Hirohito, whom Japanese grew up revering as the descendent of the sun god. Lacking access to machi-nations in Tokyo, the media did not identify the prime ministers or the military faction as sole culprits. After Japan’s surrender in 1945, there was understandably a call for a Nuremberg Trial in which the emperor would be the top defendant. The commander of American forces in the Pacific, Douglas MacArthur, is given authority by President Truman to organize the American occupation of Japan, including the Tokyo Trials. What ensues in The Emperor is a prequel to the film The Sun, a Russian film nominated by the Political Film Society as best film exposé of 2005, which focused on conversations between the Emperor and MacArthur, who eventually persuaded the former to give up any claim to divinity. The purpose of Emperor is to demonstrate what was required to arrange that meeting. Thanks to President Truman, MacArthur (played by Tommy Lee Jones) has the authority either to indict or not induct Hirohito. To find evidence that Hirohito (played by Takatarô Kataoka) gave the order to attack Pearl Harbor, MacArthur lies on the advice of General Bonner Fellers (played by Matthew Fox), who interviews several high-ranking Japanese officials, but they provide no hard evidence to back up the view that the militarists had seized power, leaving the Emperor as a figurehead. But The Emperor, directed by Peter Webber, has perhaps a more important agenda that the main plot—to gain filmviewer respect for Japanese culture. To do so, the script invents a Japanese girlfriend, Aya Shimada (played by Eriko Hatsune), whom Fellers met at college and wants to meet again in wartorn Japan. Japanese protocol is also identified as very different from the swaggering bluntness accepted as normal in America. What may particularly surprise Americans is the weakness of the reason for the American economic embargo of Japan, which provided a pretext for militarists in Japan to attack Pearl Harbor attack. Emperor provides facts, both cultural and historical, and therefore has been nominated by the Political Film Society as best film exposé of 2013. MH
A WARNING ABOUT OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL
Advertised as a prequel to Frank Baum’s classic satire The Wizard of Oz, the animated film Oz is anything but. Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man are absent, and the only lion is fierce. Oz (played by James Franco) is a Kansas magician who lands somewhere after a tornado swallows his hot air balloon. He then uses 1905 technology to liberate the people from two witches. If there is anything resembling Baum’s story, it could be that a charlatan is welcomed to banish powerful interests that hold people in fear. Hmm. MH