With his back to the camera and his hands in his pockets, Nanni Moretti observes the Chilean capital from a site overlooking it. If this first image places the film in the straight line of the director's work - where he does not hesitate to stage himself - it is also one of the only two sequences where we see him on screen. The second is when, confronted by a former military officer who asserts, among other things, that “In the army, officers and NCOs are professionals who have obeyed orders”, Moretti lays claim to his impartiality. These images state Moretti's position as much as his approach, refusing to believe in pseudo-objectivity, and wanting to bring us, in turn, to observe this era of Chile’s history. For the rest, "Santiago, Italia" unfolds its subject in a methodical way. Alternating interviews and archival excerpts, the film recounts Salvador Allende’s death, Pinochet’s coup d'état, the torture, assassinations and imprisonments that followed and how the Italian embassy enabled people to flee. A testimony both formally classic and effective.

Tënk's Editorial team