In the aftermath of
the Oscars, it’s probably fair to say that, for Chilean director Pablo
Larraín, the fate of his best
foreign film nominee No could be described by the title of his previous
film, Post Mortem, which I watched on streaming video last week (trailer below). Larraín
himself had acknowledged that the Austrian feature Amour was the odds-on
favorite, but that doesn’t diminish the prestige of being the first Chilean
feature to be a nominee.
I’m still waiting to
see No, which won’t show in the Bay Area until Friday, but I’m hesitant to endorse
Post Mortem which, though it’s drawn praise
from some critics, is a slow-moving film that’s not exactly a feel-good
story. The grim tale of an apathetic coroner’s aide who finds himself
transcribing the autopsies of 1973 coup victims – including that of Salvador Allende
himself – does manage to establish the bleak ambiance of post-coup Santiago,
however.
Like No, the
Norwegian entry Kon-Tiki, with its links to Rapa
Nui (Easter Island) also fell before the success of Amour, but Chile
did take something home from the Academy. Before the awards, I had never even
heard of Chilean-born cinematographer Claudio Miranda, but he won the Oscar for
his work on director Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (which also earned Lee the best
director award).
Miranda, in fact,
appears to have come almost out of nowhere, with a relatively thin resumé –
most of his credits are from commercials and music videos, though he did work
on well-known films such as Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Biographical info is scarce; according
to the Santiago daily El Mercurio, Miranda (born 1965) lived in Valparaíso
until the age of one, when his parents moved to the United States. In fact, the
contact info on his own website says he does not even speak Spanish. Still, his
success and Larraín’s nomination have be morale-builders for Chilean cinema.
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