[NERUDA screens Saturday March 11th at 9:15 pm and Sunday March 12th at 4:00 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]
Review by Bob Ignizio
How much of Pablo Larrain's film NERUDA is fact and how much is fiction? That's the wrong question
to ask. Written by Guillermo Calderón, NERUDA
is loosely based on a period in the life of Chilean poet and politician Pablo
Neruda (Luis Gnecco) when he was forced into exile. The film is fittingly
poetic, and less concerned with literal truths than emotional ones. And while
the basic details of who Neruda was and what he did are sketched out herein, NERUDA plays more like a fantastical
detective thriller than a traditional biopic.
The plot is set in motion when, 3 years after the end of
World War II. Neruda is a senator, and although he originally supported Chile's
President, he is now one of his most outspoken critics. When the President
begins cracking down on communists, Neruda realizes it won't be long before
they come to throw him in jail. He knows he'll have to run but says,
""I'm not going to hide under a bed. This has to become a wild
hunt."
And indeed it does. Neruda and his wife Delia (Mercedes
Morán) are pursued by police inspector Óscar Peluchonneau (Gael García Bernal).
This sits quite well with the poet, who is a fan of pulpy crime novels and
relishes the idea of having a dogged adversary on his trail. It would all make
for a fun caper film if it weren't for the fact that many less famous Chileans
are being rounded up and placed in prison camps.
Director Larrain fully embraces the fact that his film has
little interest in realism or strict historical accuracy. Every shot is covered
by a purple haze, if you will, sending a subtle message that what we see has at
least one foot planted in the realm of fantasy. That's further driven home by touches
like the film's many driving scenes, which utilize the old fashioned Hollywood
technique of rear projection and make little attempt to be convincing.
As for the portrait the film paints of Neruda himself, it's
a complex and not entirely flattering one. Larrain obviously has great respect
for Neruda as both an artist and political activist, but he doesn't shy away
from showing him as a hedonist who is often out of touch with the working class
people he claims to represent.
Peluchonneau, who is the film's narrator, is not easy to pin
down, either. Is he on equal footing with Neruda as the film's co-protagonist,
or just a supporting player destined to be forgotten? All is resolved in a
satisfying conclusion that, like the rest of NERUDA, is artistic without being obtuse. 4 out of 4 stars.
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