Oscar Night – The Battle of Chile La Batalla de Chile (1976) — A great two-part 3-hour-and-10-minute documentary about the events leading to the fall of Allende; this cross-section view of a collapsing government must be unprecedented—we actually see the country cracking open. The young director, Patricio Guzman, and his team have put a strict Marxist vise on the material; the film is structured to demonstrate that workers have to be prepared to use force of arms to defend their legally won gains, and much of what is presented as fact is highly questionable. But as a piece of epic filmmaking it is superb, and the editing is so subtle and fluid that the second half has the effect of one long, continuous shot. b & w
Tokyo Screenplay Contest 