Thursday, February 10: Stage of Siege

 

Thursday, February 10

 Frick Fine Arts Auditorium : 6:30pm

Stage of Siege

(Dir. Costa-Gavras; written by Franco Solinas)

Yves Montand plays Philip Santorean, an official of the US Agency for International Development (an organisation allegedly used as a front for training foreign police in counterinsurgency methods). Posted to a fictional South American country in the early 1970s, Santorean is kidnapped by a group of urban guerrillas. The story is based by Costa Gavras on an actual incident in Uruguay in 1970 when U.S. Embassy official Dan Mitrione was kidnapped and killed.

Using Santore's interrogation by his captors as a backdrop, the film explores the often brutal consequences of the struggle between the repressive government of "Montevideo" and the leftist Tupamaro guerrillas. Using death squads the government decimates the revolutionary group, whose surviving members vote to execute the smugly calculating Santore, who is accused of arranging training in torture and political manipulation. In the finale a replacement U.S. official arrives, watched from the crowd by a defiant and angry survivor of the radical group.

Awards

The film was nominated to the Golden Globes as Best Foreign Language Film and won the UN Award at BAFTA Awards. 

 

Amigos del Cine Latinoamericano

Spring 2011 Film Series

 

Globalization and Power through Latin America Cinema

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

 

As usual, we will give a short introduction of the film and after the presentation you are welcome to stay for a discussion.

 

Some films are adult in nature and may not be appropriate for young audiences.