Patricio Guzmán's BATTLE OF CHILE PART I - III

ABOUT THE FILMS: 

THE BATTLE OF CHILE (Part 1): THE INSURRECTION OF THE BOURGEOISIE, 1975, Dir. Patricio Guzmán, 96 Min, Icarus Films, Chile 

In Spanish with English subtitles.

THE BATTLE OF CHILE (Part 1): THE INSURRECTION OF THE BOURGEOISIE examines the escalation of rightist opposition following the left’s unexpected victory in Congressional elections held in March 1973. Finding that parliamentary democracy would not stop Allende’s socialist policies, the right wing shifted its tactics from the polls to the streets. The film follows months of activity as a variety of increasingly violent tactics are used by the right to weaken the government and provoke a crisis.

FORMAT: DCP

THE BATTLE OF CHILE (Part 2): THE COUP D’ETAT, 1976, Dir. Patricio Guzmán, 88 Min, Icarus Films, Chile 

In Spanish with English subtitles.

THE BATTLE OF CHILE (Part 2): THE COUP D’ETAT opens with the attempted military coup of June 29, 1973, which is put down by troops loyal to the government. It serves as a useful dry run, however, for the final showdown, which everyone now realizes is only a matter of time. The film shows a left divided over strategy, while the right methodically lays the groundwork for the military seizure of power. The film’s dramatic concluding sequence documents the actual coup d’etat, including Allende’s last radio messages to the people of Chile, footage of the military assault on the presidential palace, and that evening’s televised presentation of the new military junta.

FORMAT: DCP

THE BATTLE OF CHILE (Part 3): THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE, 1978, Dir. Patricio Guzmán, 79 Min, Icarus Films, Chile 

In Spanish with English subtitles.

THE BATTLE OF CHILE (Part 3): THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE deals with the creation by ordinary workers and peasants of thousands of local groups of “popular power” to distribute food, occupy, guard and run factories and farms, oppose blackmarket profiteering, and link together neighborhood social service organizations, first as a defense against strikes and lock-outs by factory owners, tradesmen and professional bodies opposed to the Allende government, and then increasingly as soviet-type bodies demanding more resolute action by the government against the right.

FORMAT: DCP