Post Mortem

Chili, 1973: president Salvador Allende’s last hour has struck. Mario, a morgue employee, falls in love with a striptease dancer who disappears under mysterious circumstances. The personal and political drama meet in this dryly-humorous yet deeply tragic film.

55-year-old Mario, who writes autopsy reports, has his eye on his opposite neighbour Nancy, a popular striptease dancer. On 11 September 1973, the day that president Allende is overthrown by the military, she suddenly disappears. The army turned her house upside down and arrested her brother and father, a prominent communist and supporter of president Allende. Worried Mario, who has fallen passionately in love with Nancy, sets out on a quest to find the dancer. Meanwhile, the army has taken over control at his workplace, and one morning he finds a pile of dead bodies on the floor. Who has the courage to stand up against the military? And will Mario be willing to help Nancy if he eventually finds her? This film, by the maker of Tony Manero, is both beautifully stylised and alienating.

The Movies that Matter Festival 2013 shows Lorraín’s Pinochet trilogy, which also consists of Tony Manero and No.