Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Crappy film

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a well-made, stylistically heavy, slightly whimsical view of the the 1988 plebiscite to unseat Pinochet as Chile's autocratic military ruler. The first thing to say is that as a period piece, the late 80's are rendered in all their grainy, blotchy glory using what I can only assume is technology from that time, and while at times this can be a bit off-putting (the wobbly camera work is reminiscent of "found footage" type movies) eventually it becomes just part of the furniture.It is also a satirical look at the advertising industry, not just in Chile, but in general. One of the leading lights of the industry in Chile is Gael Garcia Bernal's character who is approached to run the No campaign. He applies all of his cynical abilities in selling "No" as a product to the undecided or the non-voters, much to the disgust of those who have suffered brutally at the hands of Pinochet's regime. He is also pitched against the owner of the advertising agency he works for who decides to work for the Yes campaign.We get a very narrow view of the plebiscite here. There's no real look at how all of the political parties (12 or so) that are against Pinochet all managed to unite for the single cause. The focus is very much on the campaign itself and the pressure put on the campaigners by the Government and the Yes side. The scenes of the protests and riots are brilliantly shot, mixing old newsreel with staged shots.There are plenty of funny moments too, particularly when they are first trying to decide on a theme for the No campaign and the ideas they are coming up with are laughable.Well worth a look.

Military dictator Augusto Pinochet calls a referendum on his rule in 1988 under exterior pressure. While his advertising company is given the work for the YES side, young advertising exec René Saavedra (Gael García Bernal) is hired to help the NO side. He finds the NO side run by a committee of old party leaders who want to use the campaign to complain about the tyrannical rule. They have no expectation of victory, and resist René's advertising skills.This is fascinating history. It wasn't really big news other than for people in Chile. The mechanics of it is very interesting. I guess this is a fairly faithful retelling of the story. It might be better if they added something to make it a more thrilling story.The story is mostly serious. In a way, I wish it was more like the commercials they made. I wish they had more jokes. Gael is a serious actor. However the character should be bigger. There should more drama inside the NO campaign. There could be some funny moments added. Maybe fictionalizing the real story would be too complicated. I'm sure some people in Chile would raise holy hell.

"No" is a film that was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Perhaps I am wrong, but I wonder if most of this nomination is because of the subject matter, as the peaceful ouster of Pinochet was a wonderful things--and few would disagree with this. However, as for the movie itself, I was shocked how uninteresting it was, as the film lacked energy and, more importantly, emotion. This is really surprising because you'd expect a lot of tears and a lot of anger, as the Pinochet regime was responsible for many atrocities and human rights violations--and you'd THINK this would come through in the film. Instead, much of the film, especially the first half, was plodding and bereft of feeling. Where is the anger?!?! Fortunately, the film did get better in the second half when agents of Pinochet tried to intimidate the opposition...but still I expected so much more.Overall, this film is mildly interesting but should have been a lot better. For a better look at the Pinochet administration, try watching the three "Battle of Chile" films. Additionally, for a better film that is critical of repression in South America, try the Oscar-winning "The Official Story"--a film that has heart, emotion and is much harder-hitting in the way it addresses the fall of the Argentinian regime.

The close examination of the 1988 referendum campaign called for by Chile's military dictator Augusto Pinochet provides not only a fascinating peak inside politics, but it also is a true story of how the Chilean people successfully staged a bloodless revolution to free themselves from the power of a dictator. Based on fact as depicted in a play written by Antonio Skármeta, molded into a screenplay by Pedro Peirano,and directed with a keen sense of period by Pablo Larraín, the film uses substantial bits of archival film footage that enhances the impact of this moment in history.NO is the story of the advertising campaign surrounding the 1988 referendum that was supposed to 'elect' General Pinochet to another eight years of dictatorship in Chile. The referendum campaign will last 27 days leading up to the October 5, 1988 vote, with each side getting fifteen minutes of uninterrupted television air time each day for their campaign. The "no" coalition decides to hire René Saavedra (Gael García Bernal), a young, brash, in demand advertising executive to spearhead their campaign, which causes problems if only because his boss, Lucho Guzmán (Alfredo Castro), is an adviser to Pinochet. Saavedra's troubled home life - his ex-wife Verónica Carvajal (Antonia Zegers) believes the referendum is simply Pinochet propaganda and shares custody of their son Simon (Pascal Montero) - interferes with René's focus, but he eventually devises a plan to spearhead the NO campaign by putting a positive, consumerist spin on it with plenty of humor to be had. Instead of reminding the Chileans of the horrors of Pinochet's reign he instead infuses the campaign to unseat Pinochet with symbols of rainbows, hope and the happiness that the people can enjoy if they vote to end the dictatorship. In the end, despite the attempted disruption of the campaign by the YES campaign that want to re-seat Pinochet for another 8 years, the people's revolution slogan of 'Chile: happiness is coming!' is a bloodless lesson for the world that revolution can come form the hearts of the people instead of being the result of bloody battles.Gael García Bernal shines in his understated portrayal of René Saavedra , a fact that makes his intelligent media focused mind more appreciated. If at times he seems physically uncommitted to the campaign at hand that only reinforces how he used his mind instead of brawn to accomplish is assignment. There are moments of tenderness, frightening scenes of the cruelties form the Pinochet dictatorship brutal rise to power, and all of this is blended with filmed archives and in the moment film that result in an intelligent and empathetic film. Grady Harp