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Bibi Andersson,
Maurice Garrel,
John Abbey,
more...
:
Helvio Soto
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: Not Rated
: Image Entertainment
: Drama, Foreign, Politics and Social Issues, France
: 113 min.
: French
: English
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This title is currently out of print.
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Salvador Allende was a Marxist who became the President of Chile. Forces within that country and from outside, including the U.S.'s CIA, conspired to bring about an end to his rule, and his life, on September 11, 1973. This French/Bulgarian drama explores the events leading up to his election and ultimate overthrow and is highly sympathetic to his aims and intentions. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
This DVD is currently out of print and we only have a limited number of rental copies. Thank you for your patience.
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| Still shocking after all these years...
by talltale
December 2, 2006 - 8:33 PM PST
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5 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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On one level, it is bizarre that the French-Bulgarian co-production IT'S RAINING ON SANTIAGO never received an American theatrical release. Made in 1974, it boasts a raft of famous international stars--from Jean-Louis Trintignant to Bibi Andersson, Laurent Terzieff and Annie Girardot--and addresses the Pinochet-led military coup against Chile's democratically-elected Salvador Allende, a subject much discussed here in the U.S. at the time of the coup (1973). Goodness knows, there were plenty of us liberals back then who would have bought a ticket or two. And yet. This still shocking movie dared to say--thirty years ago--that the U.S. government was involved in helping the fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet manage his coup--which led to nearly two decades of murder, torture and constant repression against the people of Chile. Well, perhaps in 1975, Americans weren't ready for news like this. (It was not until 1982 that Costa-Gavras made "Missing".)
Directed and written by the late Chilean filmmaker Helvio Soto, the movie could certainly be better in terms of professional moviemaking skills. It jumps around in time from the coup, back to Allende's election, and then forward again toward the coup; it lacks pacing and style (think of "Z"); and yet it manages to build up an enormous head of steam--fear, foreboding, sadness and then utter depression--as the actual coup approaches and its dreadful aftermath buries an entire country.
The film does not need its starry cast, as good as each actor may be. (I suspect these famous performers wanted to make the movie due to their solidarity with the cause, but who knows?) The scenes featuring ordinary people work best and convey a real sense of what was going on in Chile at the time. Perhaps the most important point that the film makes is to show us how the "right" managed to gang up on the "left," arranging for a continued lack of staples--from food to medical care--and blaming all this on the incompetence of the Allende regime. There is not that much bloodshed, torture or gore shown us, but what appears should be enough to sicken most audiences. To view "It's Raining on Santiago" (a code announced via radio to signal the overthrow of the Allende regime) in our current times is to be reminded in a most salutary manner how frail a democratically elected government can be--certainly in the south of the Americas, but quite possibly in the north, as well. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.18)
11 Votes
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