History, Trauma, and Modernization in the Films of Pablo Larraín
Post Mortem, Pablo Larraín (2010)
The protagonist of Pablo Larraín's Post Mortem is driven by one impulse only. Mario desperately craves the love of Nancy (Antonia Zegers), a cabaret dancer who lives across the street and was a star back in the day. She now refuses to eat—perhaps a reaction to political and social tensions preceding the military coup of September 11, 1973—and this act of rebellion renders her body undesirable to the owner of the club where she performs. Mario still finds her beautiful, however, his all-consuming passion for Nancy openly contrasting with his colorless home life and monotonous routine as an employee at the city morgue.
Mario seems to be detached from what his works entails, i.e. conducting autopsies alongside his co-worker Sandra (Amparo Noguera) and their Maoist boss, Dr. Castillo (Jaime Vadell). In his frantic pursuit of Nancy, Mario strolls through Santiago de Chile, oblivious to the protests, armored vehicles, and annihilation both human and material being caused by the coup. He seems to be living a different reality, until it hits him in the face—all the men and women brutally assassinated by the regime start piling up in the morgue. Mario, a simple man capable of an almost limitless love, is perhaps emboldened by the sadism and the arbitrariness of a murderous regime. Blind with jealousy, he commits an unspeakable act which he mechanically processes without remorse or repentance, mimicking the military and civilian perpetrators of Pinochet's years.
Post Mortem, Pablo Larraín (2010)
In Tony Manero, Raúl (a remarkable Alfredo Castro) is absorbed by John Travolta’s character in Saturday Night Fever. He is the only spectator watching the film time and again in the small movie theater located on the fringes of the city. Repeating the film lines he knows by heart, in broken English, Raúl dreams of perfecting Travolta's moves and mannerisms, so he can win a look-alike festival contest being held on Chilean TV. Like Mario in Post Mortem, Raúl is completely focused on his all-consuming objective. In this case, to be Tony Manero in real life.
Raúl has neither emotions nor empathy towards others. He kills and engages in sexual encounters in manners equally detached, and both his sex and death drives are aimed at fulfilling his desire to become Manero, an embodiment of modern urban life. In that regard, Larraín flawlessly portrays the powerful symbolism of this character and places him at a historical crossroads. In the late 1970s, Pinochet's Chile was not just a bloody regime—it was also at the beginning of a profound economic transformation, geared toward the expansion of neoliberalism. The modernity embodied by Manero, so yearned for by Raúl, would only come to deepen existing social disparities. Raúl's viciousness toward everyone around him is sanctioned by a callous regime; in turn, Larraín reminds us that Raúl will soon be a victim of that social gap.
Tony Manero, Pablo Larraín (2008)