Thomas Raines, '10

Latent Image

     Latent Image (1988), a film by Chilean director Pablo Perelman, is the story of a photographer named Pedro in the 1980s whose brother is among the thousands of Chilean desaparecidos, people who (ostensibly) stood in opposition to the governing fascist regime in Chile and were kidnapped, tortured, and murdered. A decade after his brother's disappearance, the withdrawn Pedro is beckoned to a secret, dangerous meeting with an old friend of his brother to rejoin the movement against the regime. He declines the invitation but begins to investigate the truth behind his brother's disappearance, which makes up the majority of the film's plot.
     The film is not about uncovering the agony of the unnamed brother's last days, the bloody details of which are so prevalent in a society rife with missing-persons posters and public demonstrations against the regime's brutality, so much as it is about Pedro's haunted life as a survivor in a place where justice is unfathomable. Pedro, truthfully played by Chilean Bastián Bodenhöfer, is a very difficult character to like and even more difficult to understand. Often portrayed by Perelman in the dim solitude of his darkroom, he suffers from self-imposed loneliness, rejecting the help of others who have suffered at the hands of the government, and trivializing the depths of relationships with his wife, customers, and most others. Perelman complicates our perception of Pedro by initially portraying him watching scenes of political rallies and then gazing peacefully at his young son, not long before coldly bickering with his wife about the phone bill he didn't pay and his outcry of "If there's anything I'm good at, it's running away from the cops!" Since a substantial portion of his past with the anti-fascist forces is left implicit or merely hinted at, we cannot know the effects of his experiences he faces or why exactly he is compelled to drink heavily, shirk fatherly responsibilities, or sleep with various women. While we may understandably not enjoy being around a soul so tormented as Pedro's, it is also nearly impossible for us not to feel compassion for him.
     Much like Pedro, the film often can be tough to follow. Abrupt changes in settings between scenes (the investigation moves like an episode of "Law & Order," but usually without the part that explains where they're going and why). The effect on us is disorientation and uncertainty, as the action follows the furtive motives of the cryptic protagonist, who often enough doesn't understand his own purpose for being in one place, as when he visits Emilia; we are subject to wonder why Perelman wanted to show us that scene. Tracking camera shots follow him and his gaze, at times almost unaware of what he plans next. The absence of dynamic colors and a developed soundtrack (except in the most intense moments, which can get to sound like 80s melodramas) are appropriate for Pedro, emphasizing his wan, cold, and joyless existence.
     Artistic and philosophical, Latent Image is not meant for the casual moviegoer; it is an intense and provocative film that is meant to make us uncomfortable for hours afterwards. We Americans, who understand so little what it means to live under a fascist military dictatorship that steals away the democratically-elected government of the people (with the backing of the United States), have much to learn about life where freedom is a stranger, dissent is a capital crime, justice is a mockery, and living on is a punishment. Latent Image shows us life, challenging us to think and question and struggle, daring us to find the Truth inside and out of ourselves that can change the world.