Machuca Essay
Socialist and Dictatorial Experience of Chile Somnath Deshmukh
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
One of the most speculative experiences of conquest and dictatorship in the history of Latin America has been the socialist and dictatorial regimes in Chile. Chile has gone through multiple times of dictatorship, lead by the military, and also had lapses of a socialist government. The film “Machuca” by Andres Wood provided an insight of the series of social events in Chile in 1973, ranging from inter personal experiences to political issues and the Chilean nation. “Two dictators, Salvador Allende and Augusto Pinochet, both brought tremendous suffering upon the Chilean people -- one through his socialist policies and nationalization of industry, and the other through systematic campaigns of terror” (Stolyarov, 2007). The events discussed in the movie explain the different circumstances that lead to a military dictatorship in Chile. “Machuca” is framed around the last days of the UP (Unidad Popular) government of Salvador Allende in 1973” (Martín-Cabrera & Voionmaa, 2007). Through the reference of two school kids, ‘Pedro’ and ‘Gonzalo’, the movie explains to us the complications of the socialist government and the dictatorial regimes, and the effects on the common civilians. In this paper, we will discuss the Socialist and Dictatorial experiences in Chile, in context to the movie “Machuca”, and lay specific emphasis to the differences in the opinions of people belonging to the different classes, both economically and socially, in Cuba under the UP government. Also, we will highlight various events from the movie, based on the perception of Gonzalo Infante and analyze the impacts of dictatorship in Chile.
Chile, during the time of Salvador Allende’s UP Government, comprised of several different classes - both economic and social ones. There were different economic classes among the civilians, and the natives or the Indians generally belonged to poorer sections of the
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
One of the most speculative experiences of conquest and dictatorship in the history of Latin America has been the socialist and dictatorial regimes in Chile. Chile has gone through multiple times of dictatorship, lead by the military, and also had lapses of a socialist government. The film “Machuca” by Andres Wood provided an insight of the series of social events in Chile in 1973, ranging from inter personal experiences to political issues and the Chilean nation. “Two dictators, Salvador Allende and Augusto Pinochet, both brought tremendous suffering upon the Chilean people -- one through his socialist policies and nationalization of industry, and the other through systematic campaigns of terror” (Stolyarov, 2007). The events discussed in the movie explain the different circumstances that lead to a military dictatorship in Chile. “Machuca” is framed around the last days of the UP (Unidad Popular) government of Salvador Allende in 1973” (Martín-Cabrera & Voionmaa, 2007). Through the reference of two school kids, ‘Pedro’ and ‘Gonzalo’, the movie explains to us the complications of the socialist government and the dictatorial regimes, and the effects on the common civilians. In this paper, we will discuss the Socialist and Dictatorial experiences in Chile, in context to the movie “Machuca”, and lay specific emphasis to the differences in the opinions of people belonging to the different classes, both economically and socially, in Cuba under the UP government. Also, we will highlight various events from the movie, based on the perception of Gonzalo Infante and analyze the impacts of dictatorship in Chile.
Chile, during the time of Salvador Allende’s UP Government, comprised of several different classes - both economic and social ones. There were different economic classes among the civilians, and the natives or the Indians generally belonged to poorer sections of the