Never afraid to take on the political landscape in Chile, Pablo Larraín, the son of two significant political figures in that country, has previously faced difficult issues head on with films such as ‘NO’, (2012 with Gael Garcia Bernal), set during the plebiscite that kept Augusto Pinochet in power, and later with ‘El Club’(2015), set in a home for defrocked priests. Larrain is acutely aware that the Pinochet regime negatively affected the culture of his country, destroying much and persecuting many, including artists, musicians, and writers.
In Neruda, Larrain chooses, to focus on a specific period in 1948 in the life of ‘Ricard Eliécer Neftali Reyes Basoalto’, the poet, who wisely changed his name to simply Pablo Neruda early on in his career.
‘Pablo Neruda’, who first made his name with TWENTY LOVE POEMS AND A SONG OF DESPAIR (1924) was an instant success and was and is much loved in his homeland. But Larrain avoids giving us another predictable biographical portrait. The story unfolds in 1948, during a time when, as Senator for the Chilean Communist Party, Neruda had campaigned for the left-wing candidate, Gabriel González Videla , (Alfredo Castro).However, once in power, Videla abruptly changed his political direction and outlawed the Communist Party and issued a warrant for Neruda’s arrest.
Feeling profoundly betrayed, and despite being a senator, Neruda, becomes a political fugitive accompanied by his wife Delia del Carril ( the lovely Mercedes Morán) , having to resort to hiding in basements and people’s homes, depending on the protection and largesse of largely unknown comrades for months on end. Neruda is superbly played by Luis Gnecco, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the poet himself.
Guillermo Calderón’s mischievous script creates a fictional detective, the highly ambitious (Clouseau style) Oscar Peluchonneau , (Gael Garcia Bernal), who is instructed with tracking Neruda down. Peluchonneau sets out on a fiercely determined pursuit of the poet, who, in turn, teases him at every turn. There is also a gentle play on his name, Peluchonneau, as the word ‘peluche’ means ‘soft toy’ in French & Spanish.
Bernal plays the part absolutely straight with great panache and impeccable comic timing, in what develops into a both tense and delightful game of cat and mouse, or should I say Tom & Jerry ? Through this chase, we get insights into Neruda’s more human traits: his womanizing & his love of the good life and champagne, I suppose you could call him the typical arm-chair communist, but, nonetheless, human complexities being what they are, he always remains fiercely committed to his ideals, and throughout, furiously continues writing poems for his grand Opus the “Canto General”. These poems are then smuggled out, to factories and workplaces where they are avidly read out to the adoring workers. It is a moving and intimate film, riddled with unexpected drama, humour and warmth, a starkly original way to relate a story about a real person.
Guillermo Calderón, the writer, (who also penned The Club, 2015), is a multi-award winning playwright, and he felt that to create a distinctly “ Nerudian” world, rather than a docu-drama was the only way to capture the real soul and dynamics of this creative poet. Peluchonneau is shown constantly trying to find time to read the poet’s work, strictly he says, “to understand his prey”, but finds he cannot fail to be affected by it.
For those who know Neruda only through his poems and IL POSTINO, this is indeed an eye opener. The fact is that even his first wife, who was suing him for thousands of unpaid debts, could not resist defending him, the impact of his creative charm and charisma enveloped so many. It asks many questions and lays out a very different persona to the public image that is so well known: his scene with a transvestite entertainer, how he relates to the people who are protecting him, and his despair of having to hide, so hard for a person who so loves being loved!
Sergio Armstrong’s camerawork plays with light and dark as a language, and taking in the landscapes in wide angle, all- encompassing shots. The Voice Overs of the detective, even from beyond the grave, is one element I could have done without. Never having been a fan of VO, I felt there was no need for it as the images speak for themselves. Highly entertaining it leads us on a journey to the inevitable end in the Andean mountains.
Director Pablo Larraín
Screenwriter Guillermo Calderón
Production AZ Films, Fábula, Funny Balloons and Telefe among others.
Cast: Luis Gnecco, Gaël García Bernal, Mercedes Morán, Alfredo Castro
Music Federico Jusid
Cinematography Sergio Armstrong
Editor Hervé Schneid
Release Date UK April 7th 2017
