Post Mortem

Santiago 1973, a Military Coup and Dysfunctional Love!
This is a Chilean film which uses the military coup of 1973 as a backdrop for a story about two people who were really not meant for each other. I couldn't work out if the relationship was a polemic device for what actually occurred during that time of violence or just a good story, on reflection I was probably getting too deep and `arty'.

Our hero Mario is a morgue assistant who writes down and types up the autopsy reports. He is single and lives opposite a cabaret Dancer, who has been laid off to get some stew inside her as she is seriously anorexic. Mario quite likes a bit of `thin' and so goes about wooing her. This involves fried egg rice, impromptu crying jags and bribery - not exactly Romeo and Juliet.

She does seem to have a number of gentleman admirers and whilst that may go with the territory of being a dancer, I don't think Mario quite likes it. Then the crackdown by the military kicks off and things start to go from messy to not very nice at all...

Post Mortem
There are several ways to present important episodes of history in film. Very few directors do it in a direct way, presenting the facts and characters as they are or were, while others do it as a so-called "historic-novel," meaning that fictional characters are created with a real-life story as background. The second type is the most used in Hollywood, as they have to create a love story in order that they can present a real life event as the major story. The brilliant "Post Mortem" perhaps belongs to this second group, as it mixes a love story, described by some as funny or maybe dark humor, with one of the most dramatic and sad events in South American history. The result is electrifying and unforgettable.

The main character of the story is Mario (Alfredo Castro), a lonely, sad fellow who works as a transcriber at the forensic institute in Santiago, Chile, where autopsies are performed. He is truly a reserved and lonely man with no apparent opinions or ambitions. While...

4.5 stars... another great movie from director Pablo Larrain
I was recently browsing the foreign movie section of my local library and stumbled upon this. When I noticed that this movie is directed by Pablo Larrain (more on that later), I immediately decided to pick this up. So glad I did.

"Post Mortem" (2010 release from Chile; 98 min.) brings the story of Mario, just a regular guy who transcribes the notes of the pathologist's commentary during post mortems. Mario has a crush of sorts on his neighnor across the street, a young woman named Nancy, a dancer living at home with her dad and brother, both part of a larger group of leftist protesters. Then one day the unthinkable happens: there is a military coup, and Nancy's brother and dad disappear, while Mario is overwhelmed at the hospital with the never-ending arrival of dead bodies. To tell you more of the plot would surely ruin your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Several comments: when I picked up the DVD, I intentionally...

Click to Editorial Reviews