Quick take: Costa-Gavras's Missing
Missing is a 1982 film based on the true story of an American, Charles Horman, who went missing in Chile after the 1973 Pinochet coup. Horman's wife (played by Sissy Spacek) and father (Jack Lemmon) go to Chile to look for him and learn some disturbing things about their own government in the process.
Missing isn't a thriller, but rather a story about the scales being gradually lifted from two people's eyes. Spacek and Lemmon both give excellent performances. Lemmon's character, the quintessential postwar Organization Man that he played in so many films, has more to learn, and his performance is the more powerful.
At its core, this is a very smart and politically forceful film. Costa-Gavras contrasts the blithe life of rich foreigners amid the country's ongoing violence, and he associates American busines with the Chilean political situation by strategically placing American brands in the backgrounds of several scenes.
But the most remarkable contrast in this film is between the story and the style of filmmaking. The DVD box made me think of Antonioni, but that couldn't have been further from reality. Ricardo Aronovich's cinematography has the dull colors, flat light and uninteresting framing that were endemic to American TV shows of that era. Much of the acting is bad, apart from lead performances. And strangely, it looks as if there was no attempt to give the film a 1973 appearance. The hair, costumes and cars are all straight out of 1982.
The effect, as the story gradually picks up steam, is like watching an episode of "Fantasy Island" interrupted by random gunfire. Missing has some electrifying scenes and is well worth seeing, but for content rather than style.
Missing isn't a thriller, but rather a story about the scales being gradually lifted from two people's eyes. Spacek and Lemmon both give excellent performances. Lemmon's character, the quintessential postwar Organization Man that he played in so many films, has more to learn, and his performance is the more powerful.
At its core, this is a very smart and politically forceful film. Costa-Gavras contrasts the blithe life of rich foreigners amid the country's ongoing violence, and he associates American busines with the Chilean political situation by strategically placing American brands in the backgrounds of several scenes.
But the most remarkable contrast in this film is between the story and the style of filmmaking. The DVD box made me think of Antonioni, but that couldn't have been further from reality. Ricardo Aronovich's cinematography has the dull colors, flat light and uninteresting framing that were endemic to American TV shows of that era. Much of the acting is bad, apart from lead performances. And strangely, it looks as if there was no attempt to give the film a 1973 appearance. The hair, costumes and cars are all straight out of 1982.
The effect, as the story gradually picks up steam, is like watching an episode of "Fantasy Island" interrupted by random gunfire. Missing has some electrifying scenes and is well worth seeing, but for content rather than style.
Labels: costa-gavras, missing
posted by Steve at
8:06 PM
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