The Meltdown Review: A Chilean Thriller Examines Post-Pinochet Trauma Through a Disappearance
By
David Ehrlich
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Summary
Manuela Martelli's second feature film "The Meltdown" is a probing Chilean thriller set in the post-Pinochet era, exploring the costs and concessions of trying to move on from the dictatorship. The film opens with a striking metaphor — Chile unveiling an iceberg from Antarctica at the 1992 Seville Expo to symbolize its modernity and the thawing of Pinochet's reign. The story follows a girl who vanishes, using the mystery to examine the lingering trauma and unresolved tensions in Chilean society as it attempts to transition to democracy.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledFour years after Augusto Pinochet was voted out of office by the Chilean people in 1988, and two years after democracy was formally restored to the country for the first time in decades, Chile opened its booth at the Universal Exposition of Seville by dramatically unveiling an iceberg that had been carved out of Antarctica and shipped halfway across the world.
The industrialized gesture was meant to symbolize Chile's hard-won modernity, and — perhaps — that Pinochet's reign of terror was about to thaw into a warm and prosperous new age.
Manuela Martelli's second feature explores the costs and concessions of trying to move on from Pinochet.
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