NERUDA
Chile, 2016 | 108 mins
Spanish and French with English subtitles
Director: Pablo Larraín
Friday, Sep 1
3:00 PM | The Cinematheque
Saturday, Sep 2
7:30 PM | The Cinematheque
Tonight I can write the saddest lines… It’s 1948 and the Cold War has arrived in Chile. In the Congress, prominent Communist Senator and popular poet Pablo Neruda accuses the government of betraying the Party and is stripped of his parliamentary immunity by President González Videla. The Chief of Investigative Police instructs Inspector Óscar Peluchonneau (played by Gael García Bernal), to arrest the poet. Neruda tries to escape from the country with his wife, the painter Delia del Carril, but they are forced to go underground. Inspired by the dramatic events of his new life as a fugitive, Neruda continues to write his epic Canto General, while being pursued ever more hotly by the forces of fascism.
“Not a biopic but a Nerudian take on the famed Chilean politician-poet, Neruda is a stunningly inventive take on the function rather than the life of a writer.” Jay Weissberg, Variety
Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche…
Es 1948 y la Guerra Fría llega a Chile. En el Congreso, el senador Pablo Neruda acusa al gobierno de traicionar al Partido Comunista y es desaforado por el presidente González Videla. Se le ordena al prefecto de la policía de investigaciones, Óscar Peluchonneau, que aprese al poeta. Neruda intenta huir del país con su esposa, la pintora Delia del Carril, pero se ven forzados a pasar a la clandestinidad. Inspirado en los dramáticos eventos de su nueva vida como fugitivo, Neruda escribe su épico Canto General. Mientras tanto, en Europa la leyenda del poeta perseguido por el policía crece y los artistas, liderados por Pablo Picasso, claman por su libertad.
ADDITIONAL CREDITS
Producers:
Juan de Dios Larraín, Peter Danner, Renan Artukmaç, Alex Zito, Juan Pablo García, Ignacio Rey, Gastón Rothschild, Fernanda del Nido.
Writer: Guillermo Calderón
Cinematographer: Sergio Armstrong
Editor: Hervé Schneid
Cast: Luis Gnecco, Gael García Bernal, Mercedes Morán, Diego Muñoz, Pablo Derqui, Michael Silva, Jaime Vadell, Alfredo Castro, Marcelo Alonso, Francisco Reyes, Alejandro Goic, Emilio Gutiérrez Caba.
Pablo Larraín (Santiago de Chile, 1976) directed his first feature film, Fuga, in 2005. Since then, he has gone on to direct films that have earned extensive international acclaim: Tony Manero (2007), Post Mortem (2010), No (2012), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, The Club (2015) and Jackie (2016).