Missing – Criterion Collection — dvd movie review — early!
Director: Costa-Gavras
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek
Genre: Drama
Release Date: October 21, 2008
For those of you who think that George W. Bush is the first president to willfully attack a foreign country to rake in the spoils under the guise of protecting America, be aware that there were many before him… they were just sneakier.
In 1970, Salvador Allende was the first Socialist to be democratically elected; the 29th president of Chile. Not only was he a Socialist, but also a Marxist, with strong liberal opinions and radical revisions steered towards an almost Communist agenda, in the sense that he wished to establish equality for the less fortunate working class, and forcing everyone to share their wealth with them. Richard Nixon and his crew worried that his idealism would spill over to the rest of Latin America and beyond, to countries connected to the United States through NATO. In documents only recently declassified, pleas and orders to proceed to overthrow Allende were organized and executed with the help of U.S. officials, which led to Allende’s death during the coup d’état in Chile in 1973.
During this time, Chilean citizens were subjected to strict enforcement, including curfews and random executions. People were gunned down in the street for no apparent reason by swarming militia. Americans visiting or living in the area believed that their Embassy would protect them; they were wrong. In fact, the U.S. Embassy was the only one which refused refugees, shutting its doors physically and emotionally to anyone who approached them for assistance. Missing tells the story of one man who struggled to find his missing son (budding journalist and filmmaker Charles Horman), and the trail of lies he was fed along the way.
Jack Lemmon does a stunning job as Ed Horman, an ornery, opinionated man who firmly believes in “faith in truth” and expects nothing less, especially from his government. When he travels to Chile at the request of his daughter-in-law “Beth” (name had been changed for the production), he has no idea he’s about to be given more of the run-around he experienced with congressmen back home. He certainly was not prepared to be insulted by the people he believed in, especially in the turgid scene where he confronts the Ambassador.
This is where acclaimed director Costa-Gavras excels, painting courage vs. vulnerability, elation vs. frustration, hope vs. grief. With lingering lulling side scrolls following characters’ retreats and entrances, grand emotion is achieved even without dialogue or nauseating facial zooms. Despite a few gruesome corpses and a creepy Naval officer, there’s a smooth and calm demeanor to Missing, which punctuates the expert neutral storytelling.
If there’s a silver lining to Missing, it’s that Ed learns more about Charles than ever before, his stone heart melting a little. His own naïveté replacing the childish traits he believed his son possessed. Ed strikes me as someone who puts up walls and boxing gloves when he is confused or intimidated, and certain sincere scenes with Beth (Sissy Spacek) add refreshing reprieve to his bubbling anger. A scene where Ed addresses a filled athletic stadium, in hopes that his son is somewhere hiding in the crowd, is ironically Ed’s warmest moment. Charles’ disappearance may have brought father and son closer together.
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DVD DETAILS and EXTRAS
High-definition digital transfer created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
The soundtrack (score by Vangelis — of Blade Runner fame) was mastered at 24-bit from a 35mm magnetic track, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle.
Black-and-white booklet containing an essay by Terry Simon (a close friend of the Horman’s who visited the couple shortly before Charles’ disappearance and is also featured in the movie), interview with Costa-Gavras, and the official U.S. State Department’s response to the film.
Six video segments including IT1 13H interviews (in French with subtitles) at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, and footage from the 2002 celebration of Missing by The Charles Horman Missing Project, an organization founded by Joyce Horman (Charles Horman’s wife), and moderated by Missing fan, actor Gabriel Byrne. Also accounts of litigation by Ed Horman against eleven U.S. officials including Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and the suit an official launched against the Costa-Gavras and Universal Studios.
Interview with Costa-Gavras where you’ll be thankful for his tenacity and perfectionism and disdain for Hollywood, as he details his choice for Jack Lemmon (even though everyone was opposed to the idea), and his stalwart against hiring a screenwriter, rather laying out the entire movie in a 60-page treatment before any contracts were signed. Costa-Gavras chose to use real soldiers as extras, although the tanks featured are actually made out of wood with people pushing them along. He was frustrated by the “corpse” who kept on breathing through the morgue scene (pic right).
Interview with Joyce Horman — she and Charles were Costa-Gavras fans, and when the famed director was filming State of Siege in Chile before Charles’ disappearance, she had considered auditioning.
Interviews with Thomas Hauser (source novel’s author), producers Edward and Mildred Lewis, and Sean Daniel, who revealed that Costa-Gavras first choice for the role of Ed was Paul Newman (who never responded), and that the State Department published an assault to the authenticity of the film just a few days prior to its release, which Universal Studios proudly rebutted with its own supportive ad campaign.
Information-packed segment with Peter Kornbluh, Director of the National Security Archive’s Chile Documentation at George Washington University, and his 30+ year investigation into the human rights violations in Chile. He divulges the documents that acknowledge the U.S. government’s involvement with the coup d’état in Chile, and Charles Horman’s disappearance. Unfortunately, many of the documents were declassified after Ed Horman’s death.
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