I really don't like artsy movies like this. This film may appeal to some, though it was just too boring for me to watch. Sad to see that big studios like Sony are doing crap like this now.

No is a great documentary. With geal Garcia Benral this film takes heights to entertainment, the political division is well portrayed in this film. Very good film, I say 7/10 because this is a very meaningful film. MUST WATCH......

Interesting movie, about an important event in the history of democracy, it shows the heroes beside the tv, politicians, etc, with this movie we can learn the power of communication of the journalism, deserve an Oscar you must see

This movie blew me away! It's like the others in the trilogy in that it is straight facts and stories told from the people themselves. It shows how messed up the media is and how it warps peoples minds. A pretty great film overall.

For a historical drama about a brutal dictator, this film sure lacked suspense or a sense of the terror that Pinochet was. Maybe that was the essence of the "NO" campaign but it surely was not was the dictatorship represented. If you knew nothing about Chile under Pinochet, this film did little to educate you. I was also disappointed in the low key, nonchalant approach Garcia to his character,. Maybe that was accurate but he was so passive as to be unbelievable to me. I did learn something but I felt like I got only the tip of the iceberg.… Expand

This is a good film about a people who are given a sliver of an opportunity to attempt a task with impossible odds (overthrowing a dictator via an election) with impossible goals (getting every political party to agree on a tactic of fun advertising counter to the instinct of exposing the horrible crimes of a dictator). Shot on video tape seen in the 80s, it feels more like a documentary from the time than a film of reflection. Political junkies and historians will like this movie as well as those who enjoy "David vs Goliath" films.… Expand

After 15 years of a dictatorship Chilean Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, was allowing the people to vote in an upcoming plebiscite, an expression of the people’s will, as to whether they favored, voting ‘yes’ or not, voting ‘no’ as to if Pinchot should remain in office. There was no doubt, legally or not, that the majority of people would vote ‘yes’.

Director Pablo Larrtor Pablo Larrain has made this docudrama regarding the election with a screenplay by Pedro Peirano based on a play by Antonio Skarmeta called “The Referendum” and retitled it “No”. Each side of the question had 15 minutes a day to run an ad on television for 27 straight days with most of the ‘no’ ads regulated to the late hours. Rene Saavedra (Gael Garcia Bernal) is a hot shot ad executive who is put in charge of the No vote and tackles it like he was selling a previous product he handled which was a soda called Free. He uses marketing for politics as most ad agencies use it to sell cars, vacation spots or anything that uses balloons, rainbows, kids, blue skies and, in this case a mime that is a running joke throughout the movie.

Rene is prime custodian of his son Simon (Pascal Montero) while his estranged, activist wife Veronica (Antonia Zegers) accuses him of working for the Pinochet regime. He is the son of an exiled Chilean dissident and Rene dresses in jeans to work and skate boards all over town. He also doesn’t hesitate to send his kid to bed so that he could play with Simon’s train set. It is an old friend of his father’s, socialist politician Urrutia (Luis Gnecco) who talks Rene into taking the ad campaign while Rene’s boss Lucho Guzman (Alfredo Castro) takes the opposing campaign.

While it may have been in keeping with the time I found the direction, camerawork and editing to be very distracting, in some spots amateurish, and didn’t really add anything to the film.

Gael Garcia Bernal has a very interesting face, penetrating eyes and, if you have seen him in any other film, you know he is a fine actor who needs that breakout role but this isn’t it.

After watching “No” for an hour and fifty-eight minutes I have to get corny and end with say no to “No”.… Expand

Come dice a un certo punto Antonio (il personaggio interpretato da Marcial Tagle) dopo aver visto le immagini delle donne di alcuni desaparecidos, ‘io mi sono commosso’. Un po’ perché Augusto Pinochet Ugarte stato uno degli uomini neri della mia generazione, un po’ perché questo film narra, con partecipazione ed efficacia cinematografica, l’incruenta fine della feroce dittatura cilena. Una cilena. Un referendum voluto dall’esterno compresi gli Stati Uniti, che stavano ormai pensando di mollare il loro fdp a Santiago e vinto a sorpresa dall’opposizione: per riuscire nell’impresa, malgrado il clima difficile e gli spazi televisivi ristretti, necessario un colpo d’ala, quello regalato dal pubblicitario René Saavedra (vagamente ispirato a Eugenio Garcia) che capace di convincere i riottosi esponenti del ‘No’ ad utilizzare, nei loro quindici minuti giornalieri, una campagna basata sulla speranza e sull’allegria piuttosto che sul ricordo e sul dolore. Basandosi su una sceneggiatura di Pedro Peirano tratta dall’opera teatrale di Antonio Skármeta, Larraín racconta il realizzarsi di quello che sulle prime sembra un miracolo con un bel ritmo, mischiando materiale d’epoca e una scelta visiva minimale che non fa sentire lo stacco con il nuovo girato: merito del formato utilizzato, un 4:3 che si richiama ai tempi gloriosi del Betamax (non sono passati neppure trent’anni, ma la tecnologia di allora pare davvero antidiluviana), e una qualità delle immagini volutamente artigianale. La storia ruota intorno all’eroe per caso René, uomo dalla vita professionale di successo ma parecchio incasinato sul piano familiare in pratica, un ragazzo-padre la cui moglie convive con un altro): un personaggio che si evolve in modo classico prima pensa solo alla carriera, poi sempre più coinvolto, infine eccolo, novello Cincinnato, di ritorno al suo orticello pubblicitario nel panni del quale il messicano Gael García Bernal offre una bella prova d’attore in un ruolo che sarebbe calzato a pennello al giovane Dustin Hoffmann. Su di lui si sofferma volentieri l’occhio della cinepresa, tanto che sono numerosi e lunghi i primi piani che contribuiscono a staccarlo dallo sfondo corale che lo circonda, animato da un cast di attori che danno l’impressione di sentire molto la partecipazione alla storia che viene narrata: fra di essi, ha una posizione di spicco quasi il solo Lucho, il capo di René nonché il suo rivale nella campagna, interpretato in maniera assai efficace da Alfredo Castro. Benchè la conclusione sia conosciuta, le poco meno di due ore di durata scorrono senza un attimo di stanca, grazie anche a più di una punta di ironia, giustificando appieno il premio vinto alla Quinzaine di Cannes 2012: peccato solo che, in Italia, il film esca un po’ alla chetichella quasi un anno dopo, complicando la vita agli spettatori che sarebbero interessati a un lavoro bello, emozionante e che si prende anche il lusso di smentire Gil Scott-Heron. Perché sarà pure il potere della pubblicità, ma, almeno nel 1988 in Cile, la rivoluzione stata trasmessa in televisione.… Expand

This film held my interest throughout the viewing. It was striking in its display of the cruelty the common people suffered under Pinochet and the power of the media to turn out the vote of the people who were thought to be complacent and unwilling to even vote due to their apathy and depression. I found it inspiring.