No

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

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.

First, let me start by saying that some knowledge of the events depicted in this film would come useful. I'm Chilean and lived in the country at the time so I knew what to expect, but foreigners and especially younger audiences might not. Back in 1989, there was a referendum to decide if Augusto Pinochet, Chile's dictator for the past 15 years, would stay on for another 8 or democratic elections would be held instead. The choices were "YES" for 8 more years of military dictatorship and "NO" for democratic elections to be held at the end of 1989. This film is a depiction of the political, social and creative aspects that shaped the ad campaign created by those who supported the option "NO" (hence the title of the film) the problems they faced in creating it and the memorable result achieved.

Of course, there were several other aspects that sealed Pinochet's fate as President besides a creative ad campaign, but this movie is a worthy effort to show how a country really came together and changed its destiny focusing on joy and creativity and trying to leave behind fear and anger. It's filmed video-style which really gives it an 80s look and feel; there are several real-life images and video clips which are a nice treat, because they show what the charged social atmosphere was really like back in those months. You don't need to be a Chilean to like this movie; the script and acting are top-notch and it's not a propagandistic film at all. I actually thought it was pretty objective considering this is really a polarizing subject matter in my country; the audience laughed several times and seemed to truly enjoy it. For film lovers in general, it's an intelligent piece of cinema; for History buffs an objective perspective on how things went down. For everybody else, a fun film to watch regardless. I recommend it hands down.

"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.