Glenn Heath Jr.’s review published on Letterboxd:
- San Diego Citybeat Review
"I must enter. I come from a blank page. I come for my black ink.” Spoken at the beginning of Pablo Larraín’s Neruda by narrator Óscar Peluchonneau (Gael García Bernal), these decisive words are indicative of the film’s fluid attitude toward history. They also represent the young police officer’s desire to confirm his identity through the relentless pursuit of rebel poet Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco), a popular communist and senator who has gone underground due to ideological persecution.
It’s 1948 and the seeds of dictatorship are already being planted in post-WWII Chile. Neruda’s firebrand ideology has captivated the working class but enraged the ruling elite, including President Gabriel Gonzalez Videla (Alfredo Castro). Constructed like a classic chase film, Neruda focuses on the obsessive and egomaniacal qualities that connect Neruda and Oscar during their lengthy game of cat and mouse.
Larraín sets up an interesting generational dynamic between the two men, who seem to be communicating through Neruda’s prose even though they hardly share any screen time. Oscar’s hardheaded nationalism comes from a place of betrayal and bastardization, while the older poet faces inevitable accusations of hypocrisy. His bourgeois lifestyle butts up against the hard realities of the poor workers he hopes to inspire.
Indeed, Neurda, which opens Friday, Jan. 27, is a film of contradictions. Stylistically, it favors theatrical sets and rear-screen projection, languishing steady-cam shots and heightened close-ups. At times Oscar expresses deep skepticism and anger at Neruda’s politics and personality. Later that rage turns into respect. “In politics, insolence is a way of expressing admiration.” This bit of flowery voice-over may be used to describe Neruda’s tactics, but they eventually apply to Oscar’s as well.
Ultimately, Larraín’s approach feels far too redundant. The director stacks the deck against Oscar just so he can watch the young man go from one kind of zealot to another, and provide his gluttonous hero with even more worship.