Les Evadés de Santiago

It's very rare that a newb filmmaker hits the mark, especially when wearing the writer, director, editor and producer hats. But Chilean filmmaker David Albala hit it out of the ballpark. This is his first full length feature film, with less than a handful of shorts and docs, and imo, he did better than films I've seen lately from seasoned filmmakers.

The cinematography, camera angles and score were outstanding. Using only a prison location for most of the setting, it was utilized and shot perfectly. The casting was excellent, with convincing performances. Even the clothes, hair and mustaches were on point with the era. The pacing was decent for the 135 min runtime, but it could've used a pick-up in some acts and/or the runtime cut down 15-20 mins.

Otherwise, an excellently assembled presentation inspired by real events. The newspaper covers during the ending credits was a great decision - you will laugh at one of them. It's a well deserved 8/10 from me. To see my review criteria and more of my 1000+ ratings and reviews, click on my username. But first, see this little Chilean gem!

A very good Chilean film about the true story of a mass escape of political prisoners during the Pinochet dictatorship.

Well interpreted and directed, I vibrated in front of this account of escape particularly long and difficult to realize thanks to the efforts and the solidarity of these comrades, in front of the rubbish of bureaucrats and torturers of the dictatorship.

Political prisoners plan a great escape from a prison run by fascists under the dictatorship of the piggy Pinochet. As a fan of movies based on prison escape, i enjoyed this immensely. Generous with a 10. Simple. Aint no wannabe critic. The film has sufficient tension n suspense throughout. The acting, editing n direction is in top form. Another good aspect is the soundtrack. The English translated lyrics is very uplifting. A solid tale of hope, freedom n a true symbolic victory over the fascist regime. Fans of Le Trou, A Man Escaped, The Great Escape, Escape from Pretoria, Escape from Alcatraz, etc will definitely enjoy this film.

A victory against fascism !!! One of the best films of Chilean cinema that talks about the dark era of Pinochet's dictatorship. The great escape of the fighters of democracy against the torturers of the dictatorship !!!

You compare it to nonsense like Stallone's recent jailbreak films, Fox TV's ridiculous prison break series, or even Clint Eastwood's old Alcatraz film, they all come up short in comparison to this.

It's the true story of a mass breakout of political prisoners under the fascist dictatorship of Chile. The closest US film to this is The Great Escape, the true story of Allied POWs escaping a Nazi prison camp.

Similar in many ways, meticulous details, many strong characters and performances, slow build, and a nail biting finale where you root for them to succeed. It's the best escape film made in perhaps forty years.