État de siège

What is most significant about this movie is how few have seen it. Only 66 people have voted on it here whereas over 700 have voted on Z, its counterpart and also a fine movie. 'State of Siege' follows the realities and deceptions concerning the CIA involvement in South America. The movie is uplifting and depressing, humorous and appalling. Viewers are forced to meander through contrasting elements deeply personal and highly political. I saw the film once when it was first released and have not been able to find it since, yet I remember virtually every scene. It would be wonderful to restore it to full circulation.

In the early 70's, in Uruguay, the revolutionary group Tupamaro kidnaps an American trainer of torture and the Brazilian consul, and through the interrogation of the abducted American, the big picture of Uruguay (and other Latin America countries) is reported.

"État de Siege" is a testimony of the history of Latin America in the 70's, during my childhood and adolescence. All the democratic governments elected by people were discharged through coup d'état by military dictatorships supported by the American government, the police and military forces trained in tortures by American advisors, student and union leaderships destroyed and revolutionary groups unsuccessfully fighting against the dictatorial regime. The fantastic director Costa Gravas exposes this serious wound in Latin America and this denunciation shall never be forgotten by the next generations. This movie remains amazingly real and important, sometimes recalling a documentary. Only this month this film was released on DVD in Brazil, and it is a worthwhile investment. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): 'Estado de Sítio" ("State of Siege")

This is a thrilling and moving film concerning a conspiracy-theory premise . It is based on actual facts and set in Uruguay in the early 1970s , upon the kidnapping carried out by the leftist terrorist Organization Tupamaros on three notorious men , and one of them : Yves Montand suspected to be involved in murder and torture in Uruguay in the 60s. In 1973 the CIA called it propaganda . See it now . From the team that made "Z" . Any resemblance to actual events or to anyone living or dead is not accidental.

Stunning third collaboration between Costa-Gavras and Yves Montand about the real-life of USAID (US Agency for International Development) employee Daniel Mitrione who is abducted by a bunch of urban guerrillas , being adapted from a true story , entirely filmed on location in South America . It contains a conspiracy-theory in similar style to subsequent Oliver Stone's JFK and similarly twisted and disturbing , whether you believe it or no . Displaying snazzy editing , adequate musical score by Mikis Theodorakis and atmospheric cinematography by Pierre-William Glenn . And shot on location in region Valparaíso, Cerro Playa Ancha, Viña Del Mar and Santiago De Chile. However , the movie sacrifices analysis and integrity in favour of an exploitative and popular polemic. Yves Montand gives a good acting , as usual . Being well accompanied by a fine support cast , such as : Renato Salvatori, O. E. Hasse , Jacques Wever , Jacques Perrin and Jean Luc Bideau .

The motion picture was compellingly directed by Constantine Costa-Gavras and it won Bafta , Golden Globes , New York Critics Awards . This veteran director who goes on shooting has filmed important , polemic and controversial movies , such as : "Z", "The Confession", "Special Section" , "Missing" , "Betrayed" , "Music Box" , "Against Oblivion" , "Mad City" , "Amen", "The Axe", among others . Rating : 7/10 , better than average .

I agree that this film should be released on DVD. It is a great companion piece to Z and Missing.

Costa-Gavros managed to produce a stinging indictment of US involvement in South American politics, without drawing his villains as caricatures. His characters, policemen and revolutionaries, come off as profoundly human, flawed but not themselves monsters, though they are involved in monstrous acts. The torture scenes are grueling, and were probably as responsible for the film's official reception.

I saw this at the age of 15, when it was in the theaters. I confused it with the Eric Ambler novel of the same name. It had a profound personal influence on me. I was able to rent it once, about 15 years ago but haven't run across it since.

Yes, a Costa Gavras movie is always recognizable, as a Yves Boisset one, the ONLY two French directors who dared speaking of political actual facts which other directors were afraid to talk about. In France, it's not like in America, where film makers are free to speak of everything, see for instance ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN or EXECUTIVE ACTION, speaking of Watergate file or JFK assassination...In France, if you except Yves Boisset or Costa Gavras, no one, even today, would dare to speak of this. OK, I admit that Costa Gavras, in this film, doesn't talk of French events, nor as he did for Z, but when he made UN HOMME DE TROP or SECTION SPECIALE, that was directly related to French history. The Costa Gavras scheme is here the same as in Z. He uses an event to emphasize the political dimension just afterwards. Even in using a thriller topic, see Z for instance...I would have loved seeing Costa Gavras directing a film about war in Algeria and OAS organization. I don't think he did. I won't repeat what the other users told about this one, but I repeat, you deal here with a typical Costa Gavras' feature, which I could tell the director's name without seeing the opening credits.