The Pinochet Case
Release Date:
September 11, 2002
Limited release
This historical documentary follows Augusto Pinochet as he is arrested and tried for crimes against the people of Chile. The film is directed and written by Patricio Guzman, who had previous experience with Pinochet's life in the award-winning documentary Chile: Obstinate Memory.
His tyranny over Chile begins with the military coup that he led against the democratically-elected leader Salvador Allende on September 11, 1973. From there, the film moves 23 years into the future and across the Atlantic Ocean to Madrid, Spain. Attorneys interviewed hundreds of victims (or their spouses) leading up to Pinochet's arrest while on vacation in London in September 1998. He was tried in Spain and Chile for a quarter-century's worth of torture and assassinations. He was placed under house arrest after his Chilean trial and the people were no longer afraid of his tyranny.
The film does an incredible job plotting the steps from Pinochet's rule through to the end of the trial. Critics of this film have been overwhelmingly positive in their reviews. If you have any interest in history, this will probably be the film for you. (Marty Doskins/BOP)