I had a very difficult time staying awake through three attempts to stay awake during the film.Scene after scene unfolded into offices or rooms with people staring at grainy, 30 second commercial clips for development of the advertisement campaign against Pinochet's reelectment in Chile.Had that excessive focus on repetitive scenes such as the above been replaced with more character development and passionate connection of the actors with their subject matter, it could have risen to a higher level than two stars. The momentum picks up a tad at the end, only to spiral down into yet another office scene of groups of folks staring at a TV with yet another ad flickering across the street. Boring.

In 1988, fifteen years into his reign as President of Chile, General Augusto Pinochet agreed to allow the people of his nation to hold a national referendum, leaving it up to them to determine whether or not they wanted him to remain as their leader for another eight years. On the surface, this might have seemed like a turn toward democracy for a man who came to power as a result of a military coup and who ruled his nation with an iron fist - sending many dissidents to prison and to their deaths - but many who were opposed to him eyed the elections with a great deal of skepticism and distrust, believing that the vote would be rigged and that his preordained victory would only further strengthen his grip on power and, simultaneously, enhance his image in the eyes of the world.But hold the election the nation did, and it is against this backdrop that the movie "No" is set. Gael Garcia Bernal stars as Rene Saavedra, a divorced advertising executive who lives a profitable and comfortable life with his young son, Simon. Hitherto, he has remained largely apolitical in a country where to voice an opinion on the government or its leaders can put one's own life and freedom in jeopardy (his ex is herself a leftist activist who often finds herself abused and imprisoned for her actions). But when the plebiscite is announced, Rene, somewhat hesitantly at first, agrees to work for the No Campaign, bringing his expertise on advertising for the first time into the realm of politics.While most of the people involved in the campaign want to take this opportunity to expose the horrors of the regime through a hard-hitting series of 15-minute ads, Rene argues instead for a more upbeat, feel-good approach on the theory that people are more likely to respond positively to something that makes them feel happy than something that makes them feel outraged or depressed. The result is a series of TV spots so impossibly bland and innocuous - filled with deliriously happy performers dancing and singing a jingle - that they might as well be selling toothpaste. And I guess that's one of the points of "No" - that in a consumer-conscious society even freedom and democracy eventually become commodities like everything else and can be sold as such.Written by Pedro Peirano and directed by Pablo Larrain, "No" is of more interest as a historical and social document than as a drama, since its characters remain largely superficial throughout. And while the narrative earns points for resisting the temptation to overdramatize an already highly volatile situation, the perhaps inevitable price of that restraint is a picture that actually feels UNDER-dramatized at times. However, the bravery of these individuals in the face of some obvious attempts at intimidation does shine through. In order to more seamlessly blend the action of the story with actual archival footage from the era in which it's set, the movie has been given a deliberately grainy, over-lit appearance by cinematographer Sergio Armstrong that helps to heighten its authenticity.Not quite as emotionally powerful as one might wish it to be, "No" is, nevertheless, a true-life tale of a national uprising well worth paying heed to.

"No" is a film that was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Perhaps I am wrong, but I wonder if most of this nomination is because of the subject matter, as the peaceful ouster of Pinochet was a wonderful things--and few would disagree with this. However, as for the movie itself, I was shocked how uninteresting it was, as the film lacked energy and, more importantly, emotion. This is really surprising because you'd expect a lot of tears and a lot of anger, as the Pinochet regime was responsible for many atrocities and human rights violations--and you'd THINK this would come through in the film. Instead, much of the film, especially the first half, was plodding and bereft of feeling. Where is the anger?!?! Fortunately, the film did get better in the second half when agents of Pinochet tried to intimidate the opposition...but still I expected so much more.Overall, this film is mildly interesting but should have been a lot better. For a better look at the Pinochet administration, try watching the three "Battle of Chile" films. Additionally, for a better film that is critical of repression in South America, try the Oscar-winning "The Official Story"--a film that has heart, emotion and is much harder-hitting in the way it addresses the fall of the Argentinian regime.

As soon as the opening credits started, I knew I would love this film. Even before that, the idea of learning more about the TV communication war between the two parties seemed very much interesting. The director had the brilliant idea to edit the movie in a vintage, 80's look which helped mixing archive clips with the actual film more easily. Also I guess his intention was to take us on a journey to that period, and I must say that it worked quite well. I truly enjoyed the time travel machine experience.Gael Garcia is an amazing actor and I believed in his acting. So did I for the rest of the cast. Being able to enter the process of this huge advertising and political war was jubilant, as it felt like we had access to a whole secret world where no one was able to step in before.Now the main thing I regret on this film is the lack of an actual story. As fun as following these advertising nerds can be, it is disappointing to not know more about them, especially the lead character René. Yes, he has a son and is separated, struggles with a few ego issues... but that is it. We are only given a very few insights of his personality. Nothing else happens really.You can tell that the director did some research and heard this and that about him or her, so he's put it in the film. Then we just watch the YES and NO TV commercials one after the other, sometimes accompanied with a few images of people's reactions.What I mean by that is that it was difficult even frustrating at times, to swing between a proper documentary and a regular movie. Finding the good balance is the main difficulty with such films.Overall I truly liked this film because it taught me things.