Patricio guzman biography of william

THE FIRST YEAR / EL PRIMER AÑO
(Patricio Guzmán, Chile, 1972, 90 min.

Patricio guzman biography of william

In Spanish with English subtitles)
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Documenting the initial 12 months of Allende’s government, The First Year is a fascinating work within Patricio Guzmán’s filmography precisely for having been made prior to the coup.

Produced when he was only 31 years old and newly returned to his native Chile following his studies in Madrid, it’s the film of a young man bursting with energy, creativity, and a passionate enthusiasm for the unprecedented political and social transformation taking place before his eyes: a constitutional, legal, and nonviolent Socialist revolution that would prove so threatening to the established power structure that it would soon resort to brute force to quash it.

Completed while reactionary forces were mobilizing, but before the coup, The First Year is suffused with a degree of hope and possibility that, in retrospect, makes the later films all the more moving and powerfu