The Battle of Chile (1979) review

Three part documentary - about the incredible political uproar in Chile in 1973 that led to the downfall of Marxist president Salvador Allende via a coup d'état and the rise to power of the despicable Augusto Pinochet (with major assistance from the Central Intelligence Agency ... and others) - is at once monumental as a piece of political history and bravery (on part of Guzmán and his crew) and also, unfortunately, a little dry and academic in its approach. Parts one and two take a documentarians-on-the-streets approach to the conflict and show protestors out and marching for a variety of reasons, and what's remarkable is how politically aware the people are of what's going on around them - it's good, actually, to see people take an active interest in politics because of how politics rules their lives. Part three, the weakest component, is a lot of footage of interviews with the workers and citizens as they debate their roles as workers, and a lot of discussion takes place about how to properly distribute goods to the people - it's informative, but has a bit of the ol' Commie-era documentary style, placing the working class on a pedestal. What's tough to discern, however - from an outsider perspective - is the particulars of what led up to the 'battle' - it's probably advisable to have a working knowledge of Chile's history ahead of time as Guzmán basically cuts around rapidly and it isn't always easy to keep the key figures straightened out. For all the vérité stylings, of course, it has a bit of a dated newsreel feel to it, and that it's in black and white makes it seem like it took place a lot earlier than '73; I found myself admiring the moxie of the filmmakers without ever getting emotionally involved (the too-calm, near-monotone narration does not help).