État de siège (1972)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Costa-Gavras

Writers:

Franco Solinas (written by)
Costa-Gavras (original scenario) ...

Release Date:

30 December 1972 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

In Uruguay in the early 1970s, an official of the US Agency for International Development (a group used...

Plot Keywords:

Cold War | Torture | Valparaíso Chile | Third World | Political

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Yves Montand	...	Philip Michael Santore
Renato Salvatori	...	Captain Lopez
O.E. Hasse	...	Carlos Ducas
Jacques Weber	...	Hugo
Jean-Luc Bideau	...	Este
Maurice Teynac	...	Minister of Internal Security
Yvette Etiévant	...	Woman Senator
Evangeline Peterson	...	Mrs. Santore
Harald Wolff	...	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nemesio Antúnez	...	President of the Republic
Mario Montilles	...	Assistant Commissioner Fontant
André Falcon	...	Deputy Fabbri
Jerry Brouer	...	Anthony Lee
Roberto Navarrete	...	Commissioner Romero
Douglas Harris	...	A.I.D. Director

Also Known As:

Der unsichtbare Aufstand (West Germany)
L'amerikano (Italy)
State of Siege

Runtime:

Germany:115 min | USA:120 min

Country:

France | West Germany | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 (f) | South Korea:18 (1993) | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Playa Ancha, Chile

Company:

Cinema X

Trivia:

This was going to be the first movie shown in the new John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. It was cancelled because the plot of the movie was judged to be inappropriate. This caused a big controversy. A Washington D.C. television station took advantage of the controversy by acquiring the broadcast rights to the film and showing it uncut after running a big advertising campaign calling it the "film banned from the Kennedy Center."

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Dancer Upstairs (2002)

A great film!

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.