Post Mortem (2010/II)

Director:

Pablo Larraín

Writers:

Mateo Iribarren (writer)
Eliseo Altunaga (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

11 April 2012 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In Chile, 1973, during the last days of Salvador Allende's presidency, an employee at a Morgue's recording office falls for a burlesque dancer who mysteriously disappears.

Plot Keywords:

Morgue | Autopsy | Chile | Showgirl | Year 1973

Awards:

4 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Alfredo Castro	...	Mario Cornejo
Antonia Zegers	...	Nancy Puelma
Jaime Vadell	...	Dr. Castillo
Amparo Noguera	...	Sandra
Marcelo Alonso	...	Víctor
Marcial Tagle	...	Captain Montes
Santiago Graffigna	...	David Puelma
Ernesto Malbran	...	Arturo Puelma
Aldo Parodi	...	Pato
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Constanza B. Majluf	...	Enfermera
Steve Nave	...	Lt. Davenport

Directed by
Pablo Larraín

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Eliseo Altunaga		screenplay advisor
Mateo Iribarren		writer
Pablo Larraín

Produced by
Andrea Carrasco Stuven	....	executive producer
Juan Ignacio Correa	....	executive producer
Mariane Hartard	....	executive producer
Juan de Dios Larraín	....	producer
Francesc Morales	....	assistant producer
Ruth Orellana	....	line producer
Geminiano Pineda	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
Juan Cristóbal Meza

Cinematography by
Sergio Armstrong		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Andrea Chignoli

Casting by
Paula Leoncini

Production Design by
Polin Garbizu

Costume Design by
Muriel Parra

Production Management
Alejandro Atenas	....	post-production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Juan Pedro Esponda	....	third assistant director
Rosario Onetto	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Miguel Hormazábal	....	sound designer
Ivo Moraga	....	foley artist
Matías Valdés	....	sound editor
Roberto Zuñiga	....	foley artist

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Karin Urrutia Trautmann	....	costume assistant

Other crew
Mauricio Dupuis	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Autentika Films
• Canana Films
• Consejo Nacional de la Cultura y las Artes
• Fabula
• Hubert Bals Fund of the Rotterdam Festival, The
• Ibermedia European Community Program
• World Cinema Fund

Distributors

• Archibald (2010) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Eye Film Instituut (2011) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Kino Lorber (2012) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Memento Films (2011) (France) (theatrical)
• StraDa Films (2011) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Alambique Destilaria de Ideias Unipessoal (2011) (Portugal) (all media)
• Film1 (2012) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Lumière Home Entertainment (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Chile | Germany | Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/12 | USA:Not Rated

Company:

Autentika Films

Quotes:

Sandra:These people were not here. Why are they here now?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Caiga quien caiga: Episode #9.34" (2010)

Politics and psychology = successful black humor

"Pos-Mortem" won the 2nd Coral at the 2010 Havana film Festival, as well as acting prizes for two of the protagonists. It is a slow film, certainly, but builds up public and private tensions into a state of near-hysteria: violent scenes are suddenly deconstructed with moments of black humor -- clever and believable while upturning the viewers' anxiety. The political moment, the most dire in modern Chilean history, inserted into the dailiness of a job at a general hospital autopsy lab and morgue, shows both inexplicable social tragedy and, almost horribly, how familiarity with violent death almost, almost, breeds contempt. The quiet camera and murky grey lighting allow squarish, static settings to open slowly onto their meaning and context -- individual and historical; and the somewhat unsympathetic but not unappealing protagonist shows his true alienation and self-interest in a splendidly dark, comic finale. A clever, funny film with strong reminders of how the blackest history can repeat itself.