Missing (1982) – Poignant and relevant

Director: Costa Gavras

Genre: Drama – True Story

Time: 1 Hour 57 minutes

Platform: Amazon Prime (rent)

Cast: Jack Lemmon. Sissy Spacek. John Shea.

 

After the Watergate scandal broke, there followed a series of disclosures about the American government that had the ordinary American , shaking his head in disbelief. The CIA had not only participated in a range of international activities to safeguard “American Interests” and “thwart Communism”, but also had operated domestically, INSIDE the USA. While the revelations of the Church Committee were shaking the nation, the CIA was doing what it did best – bringing down democratically elected regimes.

 

The 1973 coup in Chile toppled the ELECTED government of Dr. Salvador Allende, a doctor who came to power with plans of socialist redistribution of wealth and other populist plans. The violent coup resulted in Allende being shot to death or taking his own life – depending on who is doing the talking. The resulting dictatorship was among the cruelest in South American history, where coups were frequent and always favored the elite. The human costs of these coups with many detainees “disappearing” are still being counted.

 

One such person who disappears is Charles Horman (John Shea). His wife Beth (Sissy Spacek) informs her deeply religious father-in-law Ed Horman ( Jack Lemmon), an American who believes in the infallibility of the American Government, that Charles is missing. Ed arrives in Santiago to look for his missing son. As he and Beth start their search for Charles, Ed’s belief in the local government’s misdeeds increases steadily and he is convinced that as an American, Charles was as likely treated as a ‘Communist’ as the local population. In other words, the inviolability of being an American, soon decreases. Soon Ed is so desperate that he tells one of the local policemen that he will go back to America, even if Charles’ body is given back to him and he won’t raise any objections or create any drama.

 

Simultaneously, Ed re-examines his relationship with his “no good” son and equally “no good” anti-establishment daughter-in-law. Before long, he begins to trust her. His experience in a football stadium where thousands of suspects are held for questioning soon convinces him that Charles and Beth may have been on the side of ‘right’ and he and the American Government, had been wrong all along. Ed’s faith rapidly wavers and he questions whether he had genuinely been a good enough father. Beth proves to be his rock, maintaining her calm and balance while Ed’s confidence steadily declines with each event.

 

The film weaves back and forth between the present and the past as narrated by Beth and some of Charlie and Beth’s mutual friends who had been detained, interrogated and then – fortunately – released. To each of these people, Ed only asks whether they had seen Charles alive or not.

 

Without explicitly stating it, it is evident that the American government played a clear role in the coup, motivated by their opposition to communism in South America, regardless of the oppressive nature of the regimes they supported.

 

The film was released in the tail end of the 1970s wave of anti Government conspiracy thrillers like The Parallax View, Scorpio , etc where ordinary people soon find themselves privy to serious conspiracies that had resulted in deaths of famous people, the obvious example being the assassination of John F Kennedy. However, the film plays less importance on the conspiracy angle and more about Ed and Beth repairing their relationship , now that their purpose remains the same. Finding out what happened to Charles.

 

The film is based on a true story about the disappearance of American journalist Charles Horman, who was executed by the Chilean military junta.The Mexico locations pass off for the Chilean capital Santiago very well. Well into the 21st century, the CIA finally admitted that it had knowledge of Horman’s death

 

Costa Gavras, ever the anti establishment film maker, whose art was born in the crucible of the Greek Military coup of 1967 ,which became his first film Z, delivers yet another brilliant film which is basically poignant as it is about a father’s search for his son who may or may not be missing in the aftermath of the Chilean coup.

 

 

Real History/ Background story – 4 out of 5

Script – 5 out of 5

Story – 4 out of 5

Direction – 5 out of 5

Photography – 4 out of 5

 

Total – 4.4 out of 5