PRESENTING
W f-A
r
Flashback
re-enacts
guerrilla
kidnaping
ial
In 1970, Daniel Mitrione, a U.S. Agency for International
Development (AID) employe was assassinated in Uruguay by
leftist guerrillas. In his newest film, State of Seige, Costa-Gavras, a
40-year-old French director of Greek origins, has dramatized the
political events of that assassination.
Yves Montand plays Philip Michael Santore, an AID agent who
has been kidnaped, interrogated and finally executed by the
guerrilla members of the country's National Liberation
Movement.
After opening the film with the discovery of Santore's corpse,
the bulk of the movie is a documentary-styled flashback, showing
the week of events leading to his execution.
Costa-Gavras has said that his purpose in filmmaking is to
expose contemporary political tension to a mass audience
through suspenseful, hard-hitting and dramatic techniques. He has
brilliantly attacked oppression, corruption and violence in his
previous films, including evils from the political right in Z (1968)
and from the left in L'Veu (1970).
In State of Siege, he is still dealing politically in terms of black
and white, but shades of gray also begin to appear.
Certain governmental departments, primarily the highly
organized and corrupt police, are still the bastards in the film.
But much of the Republic is presented so absurdly that
Costa-Gavras nearly makes us laugh. The ineffective president
tapes a nationwide address by reading from idiot cards, while the
right wing of the Parliament pompously sputters like rich,
blundering fools.
On the other hand, the guerrillas are intelligent, quiet and
relatively peaceful. They would rather not kill Santore, but fear
greg lukow
their efforts will be in vain if they weaken. But Costa-Gavras will
not let us sympathize with them completely, for with the
execution of Santore, they lose much of the admiration we had
felt for their cause.
It is during their interrogation of him in a mock trial that we
learn of Santore's involvement in aiding the military police during
upheavals in Brazil and Santo Domingo in the 60s.
Montand remains somewhat perplexed during it all; his face
betrays, if not his guilt, at least his knowledge of all the
accusations. Yet we should remember that as he was training
police to combat insurrection, he was only doing a job he
believed in.
Throughout the film, Costa-Gavras offsets the political tension
with an inquisitive press as they cover the events. O.E. Hasse is
particularly effective as a wizened reporter who fully knows the
implications behind it all.
And indeed, like a well-written news analysis, State of Siege
methodically clicks off in no nonsense fashion.
Costa-Gavras and Franco Solinas have written an intelligent
script. It is a film of straight forward finesse that is capable of
provoking one to anger.
j By showing a country and its people in chaos as armed troops
take over the streets, and by showing a new AID official step off
a plane to take Santore's place, already under the watchful eye of
the guerrillas, Costa-Gavras does not leave us with much
optimism. What he has left us with is another timely and
penetrating motion picture.
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Wednesday, October 24, 1973
daily nebraskan
page 9