State of Siege aka État de siège
Tupamaro leader: We don't have much time. If you want to write...
Philip Michael Santore: I'll write. But not to the embassy. To my wife only.
As a kid I remember seeing a few films done in a similar composition dealing with political/revolutionary stories, so that, even without any prior knowledge of the climate of the film, it was an easy segue into how things would proceed. And for me, finding the flow of any given film does wonders for my ability to explore and experience said film. And that experience was an enjoyable one.
Before writing this I read the reviews for this since I wanted to wait until I saw this before doing so. Something I've done with the other films in this HoF I haven't seen.
I did notice that the most common critique is that there is no look beneath the surface of the facts presented. The lack of personal knowledge in those involved; their motives, desires and so forth.
I think that kind of knowledge would have minimized the importance of the politics, aka the game of chess being played out. Removing that personal touch amplifies the indifference of what is done to the citizens and how, to fight back, the urban guerrillas leave their own personas behind and become The Idea for which they are fighting for and the Policies they are battling against.
In the end, it is a chess game and emotions and personalities create more conflict instead of the pursuit of the final move.
It may make for a boring film for many, but, understanding this simple fact from the get go, it was not, at all, for me.
From the opening of the intense amount of military and police stopping vehicle after vehicle, including armed troops on roof tops to the expertise of the guerrillas collecting vehicles I was intrigued and knew I was in for some serious old school espionage/spy genre done in a documentary film style. And while there was a number of times I had to pay very close attention, being outside the chess game as a mere observer, it was still a very good film and one I may see again to delve even deeper in game in play.