The Pinochet Case

The Pinochet Case (2001)

Genres - Historical Film  |   Sub-Genres - Biography, Law & Crime, Social History  |   Release Date - Sep 11, 2002 (USA - Limited)  |   Run Time - 109 min.  |   Countries - Belgium, Chile, Spain, France, United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Jonathan Crow

Having a made a name for himself with a trilogy of documentaries about Salvador Allende's brief socialist revolution and Pinochet's ensuing putsch called The Battle for Chile -- considered classics of Latin American cinema -- Patricio Guzman continues with his obsession the former Chilean dictator and his ignoble fall from grace. Having been forced from Chile by Pinochet thirty years previous, Guzman recounts Pinochet's arrest, extradition trial in Britain and his own brush with Pinochet. Guzman sets out to recreate a document that proves that the former military strong man was the war criminal a Spanish court accused him of being. He interviews victims of Pinochet's reign of terror, both survivors of medieval torture tactics and relatives of the almost 1200 "disappeared." As Guzman documents, Pinochet was sent home by British Prime Minister Tony Blair for health reasons after 503 days of detainment, only to find himself facing a Chilean court and house arrest at home. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival.

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Keywords

arrest, Chile, dictator, extradition, torture, trial [courtroom]