Missing

There's a particularly chilling scene in this movie. It comes near the end in a confrontation between Charles Horman (Jack Lemmon) and staff members of the American ambassador in post-coup Chile, 1973. To this point the staff has sounded polished and professional in their concern for Horman's missing son, an apparent casualty of the coup. But in this scene the devious reality of American policy begins to emerge from behind the velvet glove, and Horman's passage from credulous liberal to disillusioned skeptic is complete. In a nutshell, the scene symbolizes one of the great divides in American political life, between the polished propaganda face our government presents to the people and the grim realities that face covers over, especially in dealing with Third World countries like Chile. Horman represents the frustration many feel in trying to deal with a cosmetic facade supported by both major political parties, when beneath it crouches the murderous policies of imperial rule.The real question the film poses is what Horman will do upon returning home.

The film itself remains a gripping eyeopener from first to last. Costa-Gravas is especially good at recreating the abject terror of fascist rule: where long hair is forbidden and women are forced back into skirts, where people are present one minute and gone the next, where a democratically elected government is present one minute and gone the next, and where a Henry Kissinger can do the behind-the-scenes dirty work and be honored for it (not in the movie, but true nevertheless). The acting is first-rate, and a tour-de-force for Lemmon in particular. Ditto, the often overlooked Charles Cioffi who puts the real chill in the confrontation scene. Two complaints: the arch symbolism of the riderless white horse conflicts with Costa-Gravas's documentary approach, and why, oh why, did they have to make Horman's son so cuddly. The audience gets the point without spooning on the sugar. Anyhow, this remains a fine piece of revelatory film-making and retains as much relevancy for today's audience as it did twenty years ago.

"Missing" is a strong, powerful political thriller about the real life story of a man and woman who search for their missing son/husband during the 1973 coup in a volatile South American country. Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek give brilliant, Oscar-nominated performances as Ed and Beth Horman, the father and wife of their beloved one who has disappeared without a trace. The film follows their frustrating search in a country (which is Chile even though the movie never reveals) that I would not dare live in. Things get more frustrating for the Hormans when they start to believe that the American representatives there are not telling them everything. Directed by Costa-Gavras ("Z"), "Missing" is an emotional film that keep me interested for its entire two hours. Lemmon and Spacek are great as usual, and there are supporting roles for Melanie Mayron and Joe Regalbuto, a couple of years before they turned up on TV's "Thirtysomething" and "Murphy Brown", respectably. "Missing" is one of the best, strongest political thrillers ever made.

***1/2 (out of four)

Accomplished Greek-French filmmaker Costa-Gavras has a compelling way of bringing the emotional resonance out of stories with overtly political themes. He hits the mail on the head with this searing indictment of American involvement in the 1973 military coup that ejected Allende from power in Chile. Facts are not discretely presented, even the country in which the story takes place is not disclosed (except for specific references to the cities of Santiago and Vina Del Mar). Yet, Costa-Gavras creates an atmosphere of palpable tension that doesn't let up in this 1982 film, and the unraveling mystery at the heart of the movie echoes the unsettling political situation surrounding the characters.

Adapted by Costa-Gavras and Donald Stewart from Thomas Hauser's non-fiction book documenting the true case, the plot focuses on American expatriate Charles Horman whose sudden disappearance in the days after the Pinochet coup brings together two familial adversaries, his wife Beth and his father Ed, who has flown in from New York. Charles and Beth had been leading a vagabond existence with his work in children's animation and their relatively passive support of Allende's reform measures. Charles' back story is revealed in carefully constructed flashback episodes that show him to be curious about the presence of U.S. military personnel in the area. Once he disappears, Ed and Beth seek help from the U.S. Consulate but face a seemingly insurmountable wall of bureaucracy. Frustrated, Ed, a highly conservative Christian Scientist, lashes out at Beth for what he considers her undesirable influence over his son. However, as they absorb the scope of the violence and the culpability of the U.S. government, they bond intractably toward their objective of finding Charles.

For once, Jack Lemmon, unafraid to convey his character's prejudices, is able to use his neurotically coiled energy in a suitable dramatic role as Ed. The result is a startlingly raw performance that ranks among his best. Sissy Spacek is terrific as Beth, though her character does not experience as big an arc of self-revelation. In the elliptical flashback role of Charles, John Shea provides solid support, as do Janice Rule as a political activist and a number of familiar TV faces - Melanie Mayron as friend Terry and David Clennon as U.S. consul Phil Putnam, both from "thirtysomething", and Joe Regalbuto, Frank from "Murphy Brown", playing another Frank, a possible victim of the coup. There are unfortunately no extras with the 2004 DVD.

The film begins in Chile at the time of the coup that ended the Allende government. When Pinochet and the rightists came to power, huge numbers of folks simply disappeared or were executed outright. Anyone who could have posed a problem to the new government simply were eliminated--by the thousands. One of these was Charles Horman--an American journalist who was just too outspoken to be ignored by the regime. Although you see him as the film begins, soon he disappears and his wife and probable widow (Sissy Spacek) is beside herself trying to find him. Soon, Horman's conservative father (Jack Lemmon) arrives and has faith that the US embassy personnel with help him in the search. Eventually, however, it becomes obvious that the personnel are NOT there to help and probably are complicit in the disappearance. What are they to do? They're in a hostile land with few, if any, allies.

This film won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. It was also nominated for Best Actor (Jack Lemmon), Best Actress (Sissy Spacek) and Best Picture. I am surprised that "Gandhi" won the Best Picture award that year--especially since the film was, in many ways, quite inaccurate historically (I am a history teacher--trust me on this one). "Missing" was a better film--as were "The Verdict", "Tootsie" and "ET" (in my semi-humble opinion). I wonder if perhaps the film's politics doomed it to lose--though considering Hollywood generally DOES run left, this may not be the case.

I am a reasonably conservative American, though I feel ashamed when I see films like "Missing" (as well as Costa-Garvas' other famous film, "Z"). While I am glad that the US had been traditionally anti-communist, this single-minded approach to international communism appears VERY misguided in hindsight. In too many cases, in order to combat this, the US government sponsored repressive and evil regimes--when they should have been pushing for self-determination and freedom. No matter how you try to excuse this, situations like the ones in "Missing" are simply inexcusable and the film should be seen by everyone--not just those on the left politically. Why? Because, the story in this case is TRUE--the situation involving the Pinochet regime in Chile was just plain evil--and should NOT be forgotten or ignored. History should be understood and lessons learned from them...or they'll be repeated. Well worth seeing and very well made overall.

Jack Lemmon portrays a father searching for his son, whom he think has fallen in with a group of naive liberal thinkers. By the end of the movie, Lemmon's character realizes he had fallen in with a group of naive conservative thinkers. This movie portrays the odyssey of the father searching for a missing son in an unstable foreign country. He believes in the powers of the American embassy to protect all Americans. He believes everyone who keeps his nose clean is left alone. He believes in the power of the American people. The movie allows us to feel with him with its careful directing, and to feel for the other characters close to him and his son. We don't choose sides in the movie. We just hold back the tears, knowing that sadness looms, and obviously the father knows sadness looms, too. The religious beliefs, occupation, and history of the father are played down and unimportant. We are left to realize how unimportant it all is when looking for a loved one whom we feel is not in good fortune. A lot of movies claim to change a character in their film, but they're always left to resort to extreme exposition, usually even making the character proclaim that he or she has changed, and more often than not it isn't believable. This movie makes you believe. It is the best example ever of a character making a change throughout a movie.