da_stikman
Chilean director Pablo Larrain successfully out-does his previous masterpiece 'Tony Manero'.'Post Mortem' builds gradually but once the revolution invades the lives of Mario and Nancy the film never loses pace. It really is one for those who love mix of lavish cinematography combined with gritty realism that Chilean cinema does so and Larrain is truly becoming one of the masters of South American cinema. It's a more mature, more European film than Manero but is all the better for it.A tender, slow-burn masterpiece.
jotix100
Pablo Larrain, the Chilean filmmaker of "Tony Manero", reunites once again with Alfredo Castro, the star of their last collaboration, in another dark, and creepy take on the events that tore down their country in the 1970s, the deposition of communist president Salvador Allende. Like the Civil War for Spanish creators, this infamous page on the history of Chile, looms large for Mr. Larrain, a man whose side on the story is clearly exposed in this movie, which he also wrote.We are taken to meet a somewhat weird man, Mario, a typist in Santiago's morgue. He is a solitary man who lives alone in a quiet neighborhood of the capital. Mario takes the dictation of the coroner that is conducting autopsies of the dead people brought to the morgue. Mario's neighbor, Nancy Puelma, a woman of a certain age, piques his curiosity. She works in a sort of small vaudeville theater that attracts the local "perverts", according to its manager. Mario begins to tail Nancy in a stealthy way.When Nancy is let go from the theater, Mario goes to plead with the owner to take her back. After following her, she finally agrees to go back home with Mario, they are interrupted by a tumultuous march of Allende's followers. Nancy spots a man that recognizes her, without much cajoling, she abandons Mario to be with this other stranger. Mario discovers that Nancy's house is being used by a communist group that is now being persecuted by the military police.The morgue begins to receive a lot of bodies. The coroner, Dr. Castillo, and his assistant Sandra, have to work extra hours to keep doing their job. Sandra, the somewhat taciturn woman, has made sexual advances to Mario, something that he always rejected. After all, Mario got lucky once with Nancy, feeling this other woman does not even compare with the one he loves. Mario witnesses that one of the supposed corpses is still alive. He cannot do anything for the woman because a military guard shoots her.One day, the coroner and his team are asked to go to a new location where a body of a man is in a room, in which a lot of military are observing the operation. Mario, who has been given an electric typewriter, cannot take the dictation his boss is giving. The body belongs to Salvador Allende himself. Sandra makes sure Mario understand he has been killed. He does not commit suicide, as the military men wants the autopsy report to read.As people go underground to save themselves from the persecution of the loyalists to Allende, Nancy's home becomes a haven for the group that has held meetings in her place. Mario discovers Nancy in a small storage room in back of the house. She pleads to bring her food, but by now, Mario feels betrayed by the woman, something that he decides to take care of in his own way."Post Mortem" has been shown in different festivals. We caught with it recently in DVD format. Mr. Larrain films are always dark, as shown in this new entry. The sordid atmosphere around the action goes hand in hand with what the director intended to do. It is not a story for everyone. It will probably resonate with people that know the history of Chile and that page of its history, rather than the casual viewer going to see it without any expectation as to what it is really about.Alfredo Castro's Mario is another creation for this actor that seems to be a natural collaborator for Mr. Larrain. He is shown with a ridiculous page boy hairstyle, a variation on the hairdo Javier Bardem's killer wore in "No Country For Old Men", but their personalities could not be different. Mr. Castro's restrained performance works well in the film. Antonia Zegers and Amparo Noguera are seen as Nancy and Sandra, Jaime Vadell and Marcelo Alonso do excellent work for Mr. Larrain.
stzenni
This disturbing movie is a masterpiece. It's about the death of a nation and the death of people. And love. It looks as has been shot in 16mm and blown up to normal format: the image is dirty, the characters are "ghosts" coming from the past, the violence is chilling. Mario, the main character, is a kind of social chameleon trying to survive in a dead society. Some scenes are unbearable: the way Mario goes backstage in the theater, the close shot of Nancy in the dressing room (think of Dreyer), the crying scene at the table, the final, incredible scene, a kind of "modern art work" putting objects one above the other. Larrain is one of the new masters of contemporary cinema, and his actors are great. Unforgettable.
spyder007
I had recently watched this movie on "Festival International de Cine de Valdivia" (Valdivia's International Film Festival) and it was awful. The movie starts slowly with the story of Nancy Puelma (Antonia Zegers), a cabaret dancer, and Mario (Alfredo Castro). But the developing of the story doesn't catch the viewer, it doesn't have any interesting on it. The only story that was interesting, about Mario's job, doesn't get developed very well, and we only get the worst performance of Zegers ever, and a very very boring movie that doesn't deserve my time. On the Cinema that i had watched this only 2 people applauded at the end of the movie. It was like "What the hell!!... Why i'm watching this? This movie doesn't have any sense". There's a lot of new chilean movies that are way better than this movie. I'm NOT a follower of a dictator (Pinochet). I believe in independent political liberal ideologies. And I simply think that there are way better Chilean movies that threats these political themes in a better way like "Machuca", "Fiesta Patria", and "Bastardos en el Paraiso". In fact, Post Mortem SUCKS.
