Post Mortem (2010)

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

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.

"Pos-Mortem" won the 2nd Coral at the 2010 Havana film Festival, as well as acting prizes for two of the protagonists. It is a slow film, certainly, but builds up public and private tensions into a state of near-hysteria: violent scenes are suddenly deconstructed with moments of black humor -- clever and believable while upturning the viewers' anxiety. The political moment, the most dire in modern Chilean history, inserted into the dailiness of a job at a general hospital autopsy lab and morgue, shows both inexplicable social tragedy and, almost horribly, how familiarity with violent death almost, almost, breeds contempt. The quiet camera and murky grey lighting allow squarish, static settings to open slowly onto their meaning and context -- individual and historical; and the somewhat unsympathetic but not unappealing protagonist shows his true alienation and self-interest in a splendidly dark, comic finale. A clever, funny film with strong reminders of how the blackest history can repeat itself.

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.

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.