MARIA DUARTE is swept along by the cocky self-belief of a ping-pong hustler in a surprisingly violent drama
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Into the high mountains
MARIA DUARTE recommends a powerful documentary about the crimes of Pinochet’s Chile, and the contemplative power of the country’s snow-covered peaks
The Cordillera of Dreams
[IMDb]
STEVE ANDREW recommends a lively and often moving guide to once vibrant spaces that have been abandoned or swept away
GEOFF BOTTOMS appreciates the local touch brought to a production of Dickens’s perennial classic
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production whose design and cartoonish acting overwhelms the close scrutiny of characters
SUSAN DARLINGTON enjoys the raucous familiarity of a traditional topsy-turvy pantomime
RON JACOBS introduces the latest novel by the best writer of US working-class fiction writing today
The Cordillera of Dreams (12A)
Directed by Patricio Guzman
CHILEAN filmmaker Patricio Guzman, who left Chile almost 50 years ago following Pinochet’s military coup d’etat, continues his examination of his country’s history and soul — this time through the mountain range that surrounds Santiago, his birthplace.
Said “cordillera” loom majestic and proud; a witness, according to Guzman (Battle of Chile), to events under Pinochet’s dictatorship that he believes were hidden from the country’s citizens.
The sweeping shots of the vast ridges are peaceful and calming, providing a stark contrast to the film footage of protesters, both men and women, being viciously manhandled and beaten up by the military and the police before being forcibly arrested and removed.
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