Set in Santiago, the film follows the military coup that overthrew Chile’s popularly elected democratic socialist president, Salvador Allende, and installed Augusto Pinochet’s long-term, far-right dictatorship. As the story progresses, visual and narrative motifs reinforce the ideology. The painted letters on the stone wall go from “no civil war” to “civil war”. The Gonzalo community advocated a regime change that was not directed in the interests of business, while the inhabitants of the slums supported Allende’s policies. Machuca challenges a legacy of social inequality. The scenes of the military coup convey the harsh and insistent force with which authoritarian rule announces its arrival. Television proclaims that the army has restored order, and a newspaper headline proclaims a return to normalcy. However, the scenes of the soldiers taking over Gonzalo’s school and subduing the Pedro neighbourhood show the reality behind the euphemisms.
The film reflects the director’s low-key but apparent sympathy for the era’s egalitarian ideals, his unflattering treatment of socially privileged families, and his portrayal of the violent brutality of the coup. Wood’s political sympathies are clearly on the side of the victims of the coup, and the director shows the degradation of Chilean society and the oppression of the Pedro Machuca community. This is reflected in the scenes of brutal searches of their homes (Wood, 01:31:15) and the brutal treatment and beating of residents by soldiers (Wood, 01:43:35).
The friendship of teenagers from different social strata, Gonzalo Infante from the more privileged class and Pedro from the slums of Santiago, shows a different perspective on the events of the historical period presented. This kind of cross-cultural friendship would be difficult under any circumstances, but especially at this point in Machuca’s history when the politics are gradually coming to the fore. The differences in the Chilean social hierarchy are shown in many scenes in the film. For example, a large gap between them is noticeable in the pool, where rich boys wear bathing suits and newcomers in shorts only (Wood, 00:13:01). Also, when Gonzalo visits Pedro’s slums, he is stunned by the differences in their lives. Pedro’s drunken father concludes that boys will always exist in two different worlds and will never be able to overcome the distance between them (Wood, 01:08:28). It is noteworthy that the director reflects the shortcomings of both sides. Drunkenness, abuse and self-suffering are typical of the slum dwellers, while hypocrisy and exploitation are typical of the Gonzalo community.
With merchants hoarding money, poor people killing dogs for food, and a country on the brink of who knows what, class division tormenting the country is engulfing St. Patrick’s Church. The priests who run St. Patrick’s private school have advocated support for the poor and put in place a new policy to allow lower-class Chileans to attend the school for free. Thus, Father McEnroe in Machuca promotes the ideas of social integration, for which wealthy parents condemned his loyalty to the communists. In a final act of spiritual defiance, the priest eats all the waffles for the Eucharist in the church and declares that this place is not sacred anymore (Wood, 01:37:08). Thus, the Catholic Church supported Allende’s policies.
The uniqueness of the Chilean political process is based on such aspects as the presence in the country of an effective inter-party tandem, the use of non-violent forms and methods of combating the usurper regime, the coexistence at the initial stage of the actual dual power, the exclusive role of women in politics. Moreover, Vanden and Prevost note Chile’s uniqueness in its combination of consistency in transformation with the rejection of artificial forcing. Sehnbruch note that Chile has made impressive progress in building the rule of law with a socially oriented market economy and has smoothly transitioned from authoritarianism to democracy. According to Commanding Heights, nowadays, the country is a sample of effective political modernization on the continent. The country is characterized by well-functioning and independent branches of power, free media and developed institutions of civil society.
Works Cited
“Commanding Heights: Chile Economic.” PBS, n.d..
Harry E. Vanden and Gary Prevost. Politics of Latin America: the Power Game. Oxford University Press, 2002.
Sehnbruch, Kirsten. How Pinochet’s Economic Model Led to the Current Crisis Engulfing Chile. The Guardian, 2019.
Wood, Andres, director. Machuca. Wood Producciones, 2004.