Emelco Chilena

Interpretation of Chile in pictures, text and music, with special references to the 1960 earthquake.

Many socially-concerned priests in Catholic Latin America have at some time left their parish churches to go and work in the fields and factories of the poor. Such priests, usually adherents of "liberation theology," are called "worker-priests." This Chilean film tells the story of how one man became a "worker-priest" and won the trust of the poor.

The story, set at the end of the 19th century, revolves around the rivalry between two families of ancient peasant lineage, the Valladares and the evil Vilches who, out of greed and sentimental revenge, try to dispossess the true owners of their land. The Valladares defend theirs, ending the conflict with a melee between the two main rivals. There are duels, fires, chases, kidnappings, betrayals and deaths. There is also a romantic note, the costumbrista landscape, the laughable moment and the folk songs.

A businessman tired of work and his family life decides to escape for a weekend without any given plan. In a gas station he meets Natalia, a girl bored of his father, who is also trying to escape from a conventional existence. Together they get to a little coastal town, where the inevitable happens.

After providing a pictorial vision of Chile, from north to south, President Salvador Allende's tour of the following countries is recorded: Mexico, Algeria, USSR, USA and Cuba. In each place, scenes of welcoming demonstrations, official acts and typical archive notes are presented.

With clear stylistic references to the spaghetti western, the film tells a story set in the Chilean countryside in a bygone era. The script, which tries to offer a folkloric costumbrista picture through an anecdote of love and revenge, is primary and unsubstantial. In many moments the film turns out to be comic when it is supposed to be dramatic and vice versa.