Tweet
A drama concerning the actions which the US government takes in the name of its populace (but hides from them), Missing draws power from its true-life basis. Set in Chile, during the civil war years, Charles (John Shea) and Beth Horman (Sissy Spacek) are a duo of American citizens residing wherever their fancy takes them. Political neophytes, the pair simply enjoy the Chilean atmosphere and support themselves with a little writing, some translation and helping out like-minded folks. As the military coup brews, Charles begins to take notes on the situation and travels around with fellow American Terry Simon (Melanie Mayron). Along the way they see squads of troops on the move, corpses littering the streets and (strangely) US military officers in places where you wouldn't expect to find them. One of these men, Carter Babcock (Richard Bradford) chats cryptically about the onset of martial law and leaves the impression that he knows far more than he's willing to tell. With the rising level of spontaneous violence, Charles is desperate to return home to Beth (checking that she's safe and making plans to leave). Unfortunately, in the days before they can fly out Charles is arrested and taken away.
Initially Beth visits the consulate and embassy, hoping to determine where Charles has been taken and what's happened to him. However, they provide a poor level of service and after a few weeks Ed Horman (Jack Lemmon), Charles's father, travels down from New York. He's tried his best to push the issue within the US political system but it appears that the only way to make any progress is to be there in person, with Beth. The situation isn't quite that simple though since Charles doesn't actually like Beth, maybe because he blames her for "leading Charles astray". As far as Ed is concerned, the US authorities in Chile are the people to trust since they're bound to exert every effort in their search for Charles. Beth's flippant attitude towards these channels (she already knows what they're like) just pushes Ed further away (he categorises this as pure left-wing paranoia of authority). Combined with Ed's parochial viewpoint, there's scant chance of agreement between father and daughter-in-law.
More time passes, during which their visits to the consulate take on a frustrating tone. Each time they're promised that some action will be taken and yet they never seem to get any closer to a solution; all these "diplomats" achieve is to obfuscate the issue. Beth takes Ed on visits to eyewitnesses (who give quite contradictory statements), friends and associates with fragments of information. Gradually Ed constructs a picture of Charles at variance with the layabout, Marxist-type persona that he'd given his son. With this realisation arrives the knowledge that Beth is one of the most brave people that he's ever met and a fine daughter. This transformation provides the freedom to investigate much further, without relying on US officials, and to partially comprehend why Charles disappeared. It looks as though he knew a little too much about the US involvement in Chile; this alone was enough to ensure a death-sentence for a native, but would it for an American?
As a straightforward film, Missing has a great deal to impart on the behaviour of the US in foreign countries (particularly regarding covert operations). The crux of the matter is that Americans like their way of life and the Government works to sustain this, yet the citizens are quick to decry secret operations when knowledge of them becomes public. A two-edged sword, people's priorities shift when the matter becomes personal (as it has done for Ed Horman). The way in which Ed grows to know his son, just at a time when he may already be dead, is convincingly accomplished. The acting, upon which the plot rests, is generally excellent with Lemmon and Spacek projecting a realistic dynamic in their fraught relationship. The surrounding chaos (corpses littering the streets, randomly firing troops, earthquakes) is well established, although this could be any war-torn South American country (perhaps that's the point). The only drawback is that the script is too methodical, passing through the stages of Ed's transformation in a carefully planned sequence. More uncertainty would have helped, although this manipulation hardly detracts from the strong storyline.
Great movie!
Everyone should see it, if they haven't already
After seeing it, no American should ask
1) why the world hates us
2) why Al Qeada attacked us.
They are all self explanatory.
Brilliant film by Costas Gavras.
Initially Beth visits the consulate and embassy, hoping to determine where Charles has been taken and what's happened to him. However, they provide a poor level of service and after a few weeks Ed Horman (Jack Lemmon), Charles's father, travels down from New York. He's tried his best to push the issue within the US political system but it appears that the only way to make any progress is to be there in person, with Beth. The situation isn't quite that simple though since Charles doesn't actually like Beth, maybe because he blames her for "leading Charles astray". As far as Ed is concerned, the US authorities in Chile are the people to trust since they're bound to exert every effort in their search for Charles. Beth's flippant attitude towards these channels (she already knows what they're like) just pushes Ed further away (he categorises this as pure left-wing paranoia of authority). Combined with Ed's parochial viewpoint, there's scant chance of agreement between father and daughter-in-law.
More time passes, during which their visits to the consulate take on a frustrating tone. Each time they're promised that some action will be taken and yet they never seem to get any closer to a solution; all these "diplomats" achieve is to obfuscate the issue. Beth takes Ed on visits to eyewitnesses (who give quite contradictory statements), friends and associates with fragments of information. Gradually Ed constructs a picture of Charles at variance with the layabout, Marxist-type persona that he'd given his son. With this realisation arrives the knowledge that Beth is one of the most brave people that he's ever met and a fine daughter. This transformation provides the freedom to investigate much further, without relying on US officials, and to partially comprehend why Charles disappeared. It looks as though he knew a little too much about the US involvement in Chile; this alone was enough to ensure a death-sentence for a native, but would it for an American?
As a straightforward film, Missing has a great deal to impart on the behaviour of the US in foreign countries (particularly regarding covert operations). The crux of the matter is that Americans like their way of life and the Government works to sustain this, yet the citizens are quick to decry secret operations when knowledge of them becomes public. A two-edged sword, people's priorities shift when the matter becomes personal (as it has done for Ed Horman). The way in which Ed grows to know his son, just at a time when he may already be dead, is convincingly accomplished. The acting, upon which the plot rests, is generally excellent with Lemmon and Spacek projecting a realistic dynamic in their fraught relationship. The surrounding chaos (corpses littering the streets, randomly firing troops, earthquakes) is well established, although this could be any war-torn South American country (perhaps that's the point). The only drawback is that the script is too methodical, passing through the stages of Ed's transformation in a carefully planned sequence. More uncertainty would have helped, although this manipulation hardly detracts from the strong storyline.
Great movie!
Everyone should see it, if they haven't already
After seeing it, no American should ask
1) why the world hates us
2) why Al Qeada attacked us.
They are all self explanatory.
Brilliant film by Costas Gavras.
I'm suprised Fez isn't in this thread because you guys mentioned Pinochet, is he banned? 
Comment