I'll be
honest – this British TV movie was a bit of a disappointment to me. It's not a bad film exactly. I actually found the story fascinating, and
there are some excellent actors in the cast.
But I dunno; the film itself feels sort of cheaply made, like its
production was an afterthought. It's the
kind of movie that doesn't really do justice to the story it's telling.
Pinochet's
Last Stand
dramatizes real-world events about former Chilean dictator Augusto
Pinochet. In the late 90s, Pinochet
spent a year-and-a-half in the U.K. under house arrest. The film depicts this period, including the
days leading up to his arrest and the lengthy legal/political tug-of-war over
whether he should be extradited to Spain to stand trial for atrocities
committed in Chile during his rule. He
chafes under his imprisonment in an upscale suburban home, served sumptuous
meals on fine china, while expat Chilean activists are scolded by neighboring
households for making too much noise with their protests. All the while, restitution for more than
3,000 dead or missing political prisoners rests precariously on a net of red
tape.
PC
plays Andy McEntee, chairman for Amnesty International. Andy is a dogged idealist, but one who's been
around long enough to know how the game is played. He's had Pinochet in his crosshairs for years
and has seen the dictator slip through his fingers more than once before. This time, he's determined to see him stand
trial.
It's a good
performance, easy to root for. When
Pinochet is arrested, it's a long-awaited triumph for Andy, and you feel for
him as the legal hemming and hawing draws out and it seems Pinochet might
wriggle away yet again. From cautious
pragmatism, to hope, to desperation, to battle-worn exhaustion, PC capably
shows Andy's state of mind at each turn.
It's
worth mentioning that this film is a veritable who's who of Who. It stars Derek Jacobi, who of course had a
brief turn as the Master before John Simm took over. Jessica Stevenson (Nurse Redfern in the John
Smith two-parter from series 3, though it's her role in Spaced that won
my eternal devotion) plays one of the officers stationed with Pinochet. Phyllida Law and Susan Brown (guest stars in The
Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood, respectively) appear as well.
Accent
Watch
Scottish.
Recommend?
In
General
– Not necessarily. The quality of the
film just doesn't live up to its interesting story.
PC-wise – Maybe. It's a good performance, and in a film with a
lot of politics in it, it's fun to see PC playing a late-40s, suit-wearing
Scotsman who's so different from Malcolm Tucker.
Warnings
Given the subject matter, there's a lot of
discussion of war crimes, including torture, rape, and murder. There's also two brief scenes of strong
language.
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