In 1982, writer/director Costa-Gavras’ film “Missing” depicted Pinochet’s rise to power and the brutal United States' sponsored coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in 1973. Clearly, presenting such subject matter to American movie-goers is innately a precarious challenge. The director’s aim is to shine a bright light on this hidden corner of recent American history. Including all the illegal, immoral, and unethical methods used, the colossal wheel of politics and economics that was set in motion, and the fact that it was all done almost invisibly, even when actions were performed in broad daylight and impacting many people locally. Unfortunately, as is too-often the case, these events weren’t “nightly news headline material.” Most Americans are completely unaware of the U.S. government’s long-standing tendencies to impose itself on vulnerable nations, nor the chaos it creates, the upheaval, death and destruction. These are ugly truths most Americans would be fine to go their whole lives never knowing. The filmmaker was faced with a challenge: How to tell the true story of U.S. involvement in Chile, …show more content…
He’s a complicated person, even though his screen-time is maybe only five minutes long. He seems fluent in several languages, is charismatic, friendly, laid-back, and cheerful. He comes off like a favorite uncle at a Texas barbeque than an expert at efficiently turning Latin American nations completely upside down. Gavras humanizes U.S. foreign policy with this character. However, he clearly wants audiences to realize our privileged, consumer-based lifestyle seems easy-breezy on the surface, but contains a dark heart. “There are over three thousand US firms doing business down here. And those are American interests. In other words, your interests. I am concerned with the preservation of a way of life,” said the U.S. Ambassador to