DVD: Missing
$12.00
DVD-MISSING
Fine acting by Jack Lemmon as Charlie's dad, Sissy Spacek asCharie's wife and John Shea as Charlie Horman, with an outstanding supporting cast as well. The film is a riveting and disturbing chronicle of the long and frustrating journey Horman's father and wife endured to get to the truth behind their son and husband's disappearance during a CIA-sponsored coup in a South American country in 1973 Highly recommended, but you won't find it in any of the major chain video rental/sales stores.
The award-winning documentary filmmaker, Costa-Gavras' first film
made in English with American actors won the Academy Award for Best
Screenplay the year that "E.T." was chosen Best Picture, 1982.
Thomas Hauser wrote the non-fiction account which the film is based
on. MISSING, a powerful, well-produced drama, recounts the disappearance of a young American writer and
filmmaker, Charles Horman. Charles (played by John Shea) was one of a
few Americans living in Santiago, Chile during the time of the other
September 11th - the 1973 overthrow of democratically-elected Chilean President Salvatore Allende by rightwing forces within the Chilean military (aided and abetted by the U.S. C.I.A. it was later learned). The coup d'etat, led by General Augusto Pinochet, rounded up thousands of Chileans, herded them in the National Stadium where they were tortured and murdered. Charles and a couple of his American friends living in Santiago in 1973 were also among those swept up by the military in the coup. The Presidential Palace was bombed and President Allende died there.
But this movie is about the personal story of this one American and his wife and friends and their part in this vast national tragedy. By keeping the focus personal we come to know Charles Horman, his wife Beth (portrayed by Sissy Spacek) and his father, Ed Horman a New York businessman, (Jack Lemmon). Ed flies to Chile to help Beth find her missing husband, Charlie. At every step of the way through the post-coup days, weeks and months, they are misled and deceived by both the U.S. Embassy officials and the Chilean junta. The aloof, detached disinterest shown by the U.S. Embassy officers is accurately portrayed here. Those bureaucrats owe their allegiance to the Nixon administration back home. They also need to stay on good terms with the current Chilean junta - instead of helping an American family find their missing son and husband.
The story is so emotionally moving, and presents such a clear indictment of U.S. complicity in the overthrow of
the democratically-elected goverment. The film's strength, authenticity and unsettling exposure of U.S. officials' complicity angered the Reagan State Department at the time of the film's release. "Missing" set a unique precedent in the annals of film in America. It is the first, and to this day, the only motion picture ever to be the subject of an official U.S. State Department public censure. Even 9 years after the 1973 events took place, in 1982 when the film was released, it was still a political liability. Today it still remains a powerful indictment of our own government's complicity with dictatorship and horrific human rights tragedies.
"Missing" was released for home video rental after its theatrical run in 1982, but went out-of-print, and was unavailable for many years. Universal Studios quietly (and with no "extras") re-released the film to DVD at the end of 2004. So quietly that not a single national DVD rental chain even offers it. Ask your local
Blockbuster if they have it on DVD, or if they will offer it
for rental. With all the mediocre and bad movies that are released all the time, it's a shame that this excellent film remains so overlooked. A letter to your local video chain's corporate headquarters can help change that. This is a film that needs to be widely available. Until then, at least it is finally available on DVD here.
