No

Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh until Thu 14 Feb

Pablo Larraín / Chile/France/Spain / 2012 / 118 min

Heartwarming yet rugged, No charts the opposing political campaigns in the run up to the 1988 plebiscite in Chile, in what was to become the turning point that lead to the end of General Pinochet’s regime. We follow Rene, (Gael García Bernal) a young advertising executive who is brought in by the opposition party to head their No campaign, prior to the crucial vote. He is permitted nightly 15 minute television broadcasts to state the case of the opposition and to convince the many disenchanted and apprehensive Chileans that it’s now safe to hope for a better future.

Shot in low definition 3/4′ Sony U-matic magnetic tape, director Larraín makes a stylistically striking choice – apt in that it allows for easy transition between film scenes and real 80s footage of the events. In this way we witness a lucid, almost documentary depiction of the plebiscite with an unparalleled sense of emotive realism from Bernal. He proves a charismatic protagonist, piercing the narrative with a magnetism which provides continuity to an, at times, stilted plot. No is an undeniably well-structured work and becomes more involving as it progresses, maintaining its credibility until its jubilant end. A slow-burning film but with high quality flames.