No

This is a Betamax quality movie. If you like history-related movies, this one is just for you! This movie tells history of Chile in Pinochet era from a "creative" perspective. It's always a pleasure to watch Gael Garcia Bernal who played a hero Ernesto Guevara de la Serna in Motorcyle Diaries, in this movie plays another hero: a genius advertiser who is the mastermind behind the NO campaign during Chilean political reform referendum in 1989. Horrible events such as tortures, imprisonment, street riots occurred during the Pinochet era was told, but never in a disturbing way to the audience. Whoever watches the movie may find lot of similarities in his/her countries past or current or future situation, which made the movie more attractive for me. Long after I have left the movie, I continue thinking about it; therefore, this movie is definitely going to be in my collection.

What a captivating film this is. Gael Garcia Bernal is good as usual, an actor who just keeps getting better and better, in this movie that shows the campaign that ousted Pinochet from office from the p.o.v. of the ad guys who tailored each side's messages.

Good PR work that frames the debate and sets the narrative for the campaign wins political campaigns.

The movie is thoughtful, funny, absorbing. Quality all around. You don't need to know anything about Chile to get swept up by it, and if there are details you want to know, you can go read about it afterwards.

I especially liked that it looked like a documentary video and a time- capsule from that era. It seamlessly mixes stock footage with filmed stuff to give it a dated look.

See it.

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, win or lose.

Pinochet's government were an arrogant bunch; 15 years of dictatorship will do that to you, to the point that the election was largely seen as a farcical exercise merely to validate his rule.

So, the fact that this election campaign won a seemingly un-winnable election and validate real democracy in that it began the end of Pinochet's rule is still a pretty incredible turn of events.

The film itself tells the story of Rene Saavedra (Gael García Bernal) an in demand advertiser with a troubled home life who spearheads the NO campaign by putting a positive, consumerist spin on it with plenty of humour to be had... www.ravechild.co.uk

I'm from Chile and i feel very connected to the film. I'm not old enough to say that I lived that situation. But I feel like I lived it. I investigated a lot about the Chilean dictatorship and i know much about it. I think the film says everything I know about that, but grouped in 1 hour and 45 minutes of film. The style of the camera gives an 80's environment that makes the film look like a documentary. What I like is that the movie was easy to understand, charismatic, funny and very "Chilean"(i mean the accent and the modern culture). It has a dense ambient but gets soften with funny scenes.

-Lucas Buvinic

"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.