‘Chile ’76’ Trailer: Pinochet Thriller Is Gripping Feminist Cinema Inspired by Hitchcock
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- 05 Apr 2023
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The early years of Pinochet are told from the eyes of an upper middle class woman whose life unravels in this Cannes-selected thriller.
The early years of Pinochet are told from the eyes of an upper middle class woman whose life unravels in this Cannes-selected thriller.
Manuela Martelli tells the story of the early years of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet from an unusual perspective: that of an upper middle class woman named Carmen (played by Aline Küppenheim) whose life comes undone after she takes in an injured young man. “Chile ’76” made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last year, arrives at New Directors/New Films in New York this week, and opens later this Spring from Kino Lorber. Check out the trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, below.
Set during the early days of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship, “Chile ‘76” builds from quiet character study to gripping suspense thriller as it explores one woman’s precarious flirtation with political engagement. Carmen (Aline Kuppenheim) leads a sheltered upper middle class existence. She heads to her summer house in the off-season to supervise its renovation while also performing local charitable works through her church. Her husband, children, and grandchildren come back and forth during the winter vacation, bringing reminders of the world beyond.
When the family priest, Father Sánchez (Hugo Medina), asks her to take care of an injured young man ((Nicolás Sepúlveda) he has been sheltering in secret, Carmen is inadvertently drawn into the world of the Chilean political opposition and must face real-world threats she is unprepared to handle, with potentially disastrous consequences for her and her entire family.
“I was wondering how the life of a woman in her fifties would’ve been during the ’70s in Chile. But I also needed freedom to develop my own character. I realized I was really attached to reality, and that I had to free myself. And when I said that, I found the film,” Martelli, who drew inspiration from her grandmother, told the BFI of her film. Read More…
