Missing

You have to hand it to Greek filmmaker Costa-Gavras, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for in the end giving him exactly what he was due. He won a Best Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium) Oscar for Missing, and the screenplay was the crucial aspect to telling the various stories that needed telling here. First that of journalist and documentary filmmaker Charles Horman (John Shea), who was murdered. Secondly that of Ed Horman (father of Charles, played by Jack Lemmon) and Joyce Horman (Beth in the film, and the wife of Charles, played by Sissy Spacek). Lastly, that of the Chilean people, who were thrust into years of military dictatorship - helped by the movers and shakers inside the United States, and a political stance which dominated the Cold War. Telling all of those stories in the same film, and making it not only coherent, but easy to watch and compelling, was an extremely tough undertaking. In the end it's expertly paced, makes great use of it's shooting location in Mexico, and features two knockout performances from it's main two stars - Spacek and Lemmon.

Missing patiently gives us a lot of time to begin with letting us get to know Charlie and his friends, such as real-life murdered journalist Frank Teruggi (Joe Regalbuto). We see the coup taking place around these people who seem a little nervous, but still confident that their status as Americans makes them immune to civil strife in the South American nation. Once Charles disappears, we really end up feeling his absence after getting to know him - and then the film moves on to it's main narrative - that of Ed and Beth's search for answers as to what has become of him. This is where another really enjoyable parallel narrative takes shape - the gradual change that Ed undergoes the longer he spends time with the American diplomats, and the longer he witnesses directly what's going on in Chile. He starts with complete faith and trust in what the Americans are telling him, and with what they're doing - reserving his suspicion for the "kooky", and what he thinks is a conspiratorial-minded, Beth. As time goes on however he begins to realise that those calling the shots don't have his best interests at heart. He sees that what is going on is rotten.

Yes - Sissy Spacek and Jack Lemmon are great in this film, and have to map out a slowly evolving relationship where they go from in-laws just putting up with each other to where they gradually become friends. Rome wasn't built in a day - and neither is Ed's view of Beth a rapidly developing phenomenon. He's apt to mutter infuriating asides that make Beth seem angelic in that she doesn't immediately slap him or kick him in the groin. He's old fashioned, conservative, and thinks Charlie and Beth were crazy moving to Chile - he has no concept of people "growing" or discovering themselves. He only knows that you get a job, you get married, you have kids and eventually you retire - and die. He immediately makes assumptions about Beth that paints her as a bit of a nut, and what he doesn't know is that in this situation he's the naïve one. When the diplomats keep asking Beth for a list of names (obviously an "enemies" list to be traded to Pinochet) he innocently thinks it's to help find Charles. It's the core of the story, and the arc these real-life characters are on.

In the meantime, in praise of cinematographer Ricardo Aronovich (who sometimes, but rarely participated with English-speaking films) - that shot of the hotel balcony with the helicopter flying over is beautiful - I mean it, what a shot. It flows from the back balcony to the road out front with jeeps and tanks on it - all in an unbroken shot. In fact, there are a number of great shots in this - many of them laying out to us the military coup in action. We have many a walk down a street, and many of these "coup is happening" shots with multiple groups of extras in action are one-take deals - my brain explodes trying to understand why he wasn't also nominated for an Oscar. I loved those dolly deals at fast pace down a street packed with action. How about the upwards pan with the bodies laid out on a glass ceiling at the morgue? Wonderful. What about the shot with the white horse galloping down the street? Unforgettable. I don't know. Maybe he needed to be part of a union to be nominated. I really loved the camera work in this film - marvelous for it's day.

The score from Greek electronic music composer Vangelis is also worth mentioning - it has some dramatic flow to it. A real emotional component - it's surprisingly driven by softer melodies, for a film that's set during a bloody and horrifying civil conflict. Vangelis had just had his triumph via composing the score for Chariots of Fire - one of those musical efforts in films which ends up indelibly imprinted on our minds. (He won an Oscar for that work.) Vangelis seemed to find it easy to reach out and capture whatever was needed in the audience's mind, and Costa-Gavras must have asked him to remember the links between the people rather than the general situation. The love between Charlie and his friends and family - not to mention the new bonds that are made during the sad, fruitless searching that takes part in this movie. There's a delicateness to most of it, though obviously tension and heaviness mark this film's most evil aspects. Harder tones that march to a strict rhythmic beat.

So - this is a hard film to briefly sum up. Politically, it was an absolute bomb that exposed America's involvement in bringing a nasty dictator to power. I'm not a big fan of the way the map of the World was treated during the Cold War - with the United States so determined to not see any small nations flip over to communism that they'd interfere, even if it were against the interests of those nations' populations. But, it's also a movie about two people - a father and a daughter in-law facing sad circumstances with diminishing hope, anger, confusion and eventually resignation - at least growing closer to each other despite the lack of success their search for Charlie had. It succeeds story-wise, performance-wise, in it's cinematography, score and location work - making Mexico a substitute for Chile. One of the films of 1982. I've seen it numerous times and it's grown on me over the years - I see what all the fuss was about. Lemmon and Spacek are marvelous, and their partnership is a heartwarming one - two greats at their peak. Of course, the real story is sad. So sad. But if there's one thing Joyce and Ed can take from what happened it's this - what happened to their son led to the book being written and this film, which led to people in America knowing and had a big impact. It was not for nothing - that's for sure.