Post Mortem (2010)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Great Film overall

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Post Mortem is very slow moving and it never really picks up. The head scratching confusion reminds of French film making. It has a couple of really good moments that will stick with you, such as a scene during which the two main characters enjoy a good cry, a prolonged sex scene, and the final drawn out scene involving moving furniture, but all in all it's a lot of this and that without much cohesion. Basically a civil servant in charge of documenting autopsies falls in love with a bulimic showgirl who belongs to a communist group that is wanted by the state. When the state begins indiscriminately murdering the communists, our protagonist must hide his love behind a cabinet in his wall--except one problem: she has a boyfriend. There are some very explicit scenes of naked dead people but beyond that there isn't any real violence or action. The film is very moody and slow, interesting enough to sit through but not something you'll probably go and rave to your friends about. If you're a film student or just love foreign films you'll probably dig it. I thought it was okay but just wished something more suspenseful would have happened. It can't all be about atmosphere.

Set in Chile in 1973, during the final days of Allende's brutal dictatorship, Post Mortem is a rather bleak, downbeat and dreary drama. Chilean director Pablo Larrain (Tony Manero, etc) obviously is drawn towards sad, lonely obsessive protagonists with a psychotic streak. Victor (played by Marcelo Alonso, who also appeared in Tony Manero) is a civil servant who works in Santiago's morgue, typing out details of autopsies. He becomes obsessed with Nancy (Antonia Zegers), a beautiful neighbour who also works as a dancer in a local burlesque hall. During the brutal chaos of the coup, Nancy disappears. In a series of extended flashbacks we learn of her fate. Alonso's minimalist and coldly detached performance brings a suitably creepy edge to his impassive Victor. The film shares a similar visual style to Tony Manero, and those who appreciated that film may also enjoy this drama and its sharply political edge. The overt violence is kept to a minimum, but Larrain still manages to convey the horrors of Pinochet's bloody coup. Larrain loves his long takes, especially effective during the climax, but some linger far too long. Larrain's regular cinematographer Sergio Armstrong has shot the film in largely washed-out, brownish hues which adds to the oppressive atmosphere.

Pablo Larrain, the Chilean filmmaker of "Tony Manero", reunites once again with Alfredo Castro, the star of their last collaboration, in another dark, and creepy take on the events that tore down their country in the 1970s, the deposition of communist president Salvador Allende. Like the Civil War for Spanish creators, this infamous page on the history of Chile, looms large for Mr. Larrain, a man whose side on the story is clearly exposed in this movie, which he also wrote.We are taken to meet a somewhat weird man, Mario, a typist in Santiago's morgue. He is a solitary man who lives alone in a quiet neighborhood of the capital. Mario takes the dictation of the coroner that is conducting autopsies of the dead people brought to the morgue. Mario's neighbor, Nancy Puelma, a woman of a certain age, piques his curiosity. She works in a sort of small vaudeville theater that attracts the local "perverts", according to its manager. Mario begins to tail Nancy in a stealthy way.When Nancy is let go from the theater, Mario goes to plead with the owner to take her back. After following her, she finally agrees to go back home with Mario, they are interrupted by a tumultuous march of Allende's followers. Nancy spots a man that recognizes her, without much cajoling, she abandons Mario to be with this other stranger. Mario discovers that Nancy's house is being used by a communist group that is now being persecuted by the military police.The morgue begins to receive a lot of bodies. The coroner, Dr. Castillo, and his assistant Sandra, have to work extra hours to keep doing their job. Sandra, the somewhat taciturn woman, has made sexual advances to Mario, something that he always rejected. After all, Mario got lucky once with Nancy, feeling this other woman does not even compare with the one he loves. Mario witnesses that one of the supposed corpses is still alive. He cannot do anything for the woman because a military guard shoots her.One day, the coroner and his team are asked to go to a new location where a body of a man is in a room, in which a lot of military are observing the operation. Mario, who has been given an electric typewriter, cannot take the dictation his boss is giving. The body belongs to Salvador Allende himself. Sandra makes sure Mario understand he has been killed. He does not commit suicide, as the military men wants the autopsy report to read.As people go underground to save themselves from the persecution of the loyalists to Allende, Nancy's home becomes a haven for the group that has held meetings in her place. Mario discovers Nancy in a small storage room in back of the house. She pleads to bring her food, but by now, Mario feels betrayed by the woman, something that he decides to take care of in his own way."Post Mortem" has been shown in different festivals. We caught with it recently in DVD format. Mr. Larrain films are always dark, as shown in this new entry. The sordid atmosphere around the action goes hand in hand with what the director intended to do. It is not a story for everyone. It will probably resonate with people that know the history of Chile and that page of its history, rather than the casual viewer going to see it without any expectation as to what it is really about.Alfredo Castro's Mario is another creation for this actor that seems to be a natural collaborator for Mr. Larrain. He is shown with a ridiculous page boy hairstyle, a variation on the hairdo Javier Bardem's killer wore in "No Country For Old Men", but their personalities could not be different. Mr. Castro's restrained performance works well in the film. Antonia Zegers and Amparo Noguera are seen as Nancy and Sandra, Jaime Vadell and Marcelo Alonso do excellent work for Mr. Larrain.

I had recently watched this movie on "Festival International de Cine de Valdivia" (Valdivia's International Film Festival) and it was awful. The movie starts slowly with the story of Nancy Puelma (Antonia Zegers), a cabaret dancer, and Mario (Alfredo Castro). But the developing of the story doesn't catch the viewer, it doesn't have any interesting on it. The only story that was interesting, about Mario's job, doesn't get developed very well, and we only get the worst performance of Zegers ever, and a very very boring movie that doesn't deserve my time. On the Cinema that i had watched this only 2 people applauded at the end of the movie. It was like "What the hell!!... Why i'm watching this? This movie doesn't have any sense". There's a lot of new chilean movies that are way better than this movie. I'm NOT a follower of a dictator (Pinochet). I believe in independent political liberal ideologies. And I simply think that there are way better Chilean movies that threats these political themes in a better way like "Machuca", "Fiesta Patria", and "Bastardos en el Paraiso". In fact, Post Mortem SUCKS.