No is a frustrating movie. I wanted to like it, because it’s a very interesting story, one that is directly connected to the fascinating geopolitical history of how the United States used to run South America, and no longer does. However, it is such a badly made film, I found it almost impossible to get any real enjoyment out of it.

No is set in 1988, and it looks like it was filmed using a 1988 camcorder. I can’t remember the last feature film that looked this bad. The film is consistently blurry, and a surprising number of sections literally look like they were shot through a screen door. No attention was paid to lighting. (In one scene, sunlight obliterates everyone’s faces.) Listening to all the talking in this film is very unpleasant, because the sound quality is horrible, all the actors have similar voices, they all mumble in their performances, and the camerawork is so inept you can’t even see who is talking! As if this were not enough, the subtitles are clearly not up to the modern standard in terms of ease of reading, and there’s something funny about the translations that I could not put my finger on, having to do with the way they all kept saying “man” all the time, even in contexts where it made no sense. My wife and I were cranky as hell when we walked out of this film, largely because watching it was so grating to our senses.

So, in basic physical terms, this film is damn near a fucking disaster. In artistic terms, it’s not much better. Scene structure is abominable. There is a good bit of dialog in this movie, as various people have what should have been interesting discussions about the referendum and what to do. But rather than create cohesive scenes which properly organized the concepts being bandied about, they shot a million different scenes in a million different places, and then pasted together 15 second snippets into these irritating patchwork “conversations” that spread over hours or days. I think they thought they were being “artsy” with this device, but it’s really just crap, and only distracts from the concepts being discussed. And when you factor in the physical problems mentioned, in any one of these “conversations” you are never sure if it’s always the same people talking, if new people are suddenly in the scene you don’t know who they are, and since people are frequently shot from horrible angles, you sometimes even forget who the main participants are.

No also makes no effort to orient the viewer to the sociopolitical context of the film. How many people know anything about Salvador Allende’s government, which the United States took out in favor of Pinochet’s brutal regime? Almost nobody. Was he a good guy, a bad guy, a communist, a social democrat? The viewer is told nothing, outside of mentioning the U.S. role in getting rid of him. The film also offers almost no assistance in understanding the conflicting claims of “prosperity” used by both sides – it’s as bad as our ridiculous presidential elections! The “Yes” group harps on about “not losing what has been achieved” – well, what’s the truth about what had been achieved? These filmmakers simply refuse to clarify anything important like this. Further, no context is even created around the referendum itself. It’s not clear what the “No” people want to happen if they win, and when they do win, the film does not explain who came to power or what happened subsequently. It’s all extremely unsatisfying.

So in the end, all you are left with is the isolated story of the marketing campaign utilized by the “No” folks, a feel-good campaign that leveraged good music, American upper middle class images of prosperity, celebrity support, and humor. It was interesting and enjoyable to watch, especially when the “Yes” folks start trying to fight dirty, and out-do the “No” folks at their own game. But as my wife pointed out, this film really rode the “No” advertising segments shamelessly. At the end of the day, there was damn little in the way of fleshing out how it all came together, or making the process of creation interesting or involving.

Lastly, I’ve come to the conclusion that Gael García Bernal is a bad actor, and a bad sign in movies. I don’t care how damn cute he is – I’m done with him.

So, what can I say? This is the kind of movie that is going to stream on Netflix pretty quickly. If you are really interested in seeing the ad spots from the 1988 Chilean referendum, wait and stream it. If you merely like good political films, I’m not sure I’d bother with this one.