MARCELO ALONSO

NERUDA (2017)
Starring Gael García Bernal, Luis Gnecco, Mercedes Morán, Alfredo Castro, Michael Silva, Pablo Derqui, Alejandro Goic, Antonia Zegers, Marcelo Alonso and Héctor Noguera. Directed by Pablo Larraín.

It’s 1948, and the Cold War has reached Chile. Following the President’s outlawing of communism, Neruda (played by Luis Gnecco, bearing a remarkable likeness) and his artist wife Delia (Mercedes Morán) are forced into hiding. Beloved by the populace, they slip underground and are pursued by incompetent, vainglorious police inspector Oscar Peluchonneau (the superb Gael Garcia Bernal), hoping to make a name for himself by capturing the country’s most infamous fugitive.

Whilst life on the run holds little charm for the cultured and hedonistic Neruda, he uses the opportunity to reinvent his work and life, leaving clues for his pursuer designed to make their game of cat-and-mouse even more dangerous and thrilling. Thwarting Peluchonneau at every turn, it’s almost as if the detective is the man Neruda would have written to chase himself...

REVIEWS Neruda - A philosophical snoozefest