sharky_55 Who but Patricio Guzman would match the political woes, abuses and lasting traumas of Augusto Pinochet's regime with the philosophical questioning of a group of astronomers studying the vast universe from Atacama Desert in Chile. The tenuous connection, as the documentary states, is their shared study of bodies; one ravaging the desert sands for the remains of their loved ones and the other scanning the skies for the larger, celestial wonders. And yet in some ways, Guzman has made the two narratives similar in their evocations of time passing and what those spaces are filled with. We know, for example, that some of the galaxies and stars that the astronomer's massive telescopes are pointed at are so far away that even light's travelling speed does not escape the passing of time; like the Pillars of Creation, these bodies may have already been eroded at the moment of study. So in a sense, both these groups are studying the past, but they move in different directions with each discovery. Guzman's voice-over narration is the filter in which we judge these events. It's words are not light; in fact they are full of philosophical posturing and grandiose, sometimes pretentious ideas and metaphors about the very nature of discovery and the vastness of the universe. The problem is that it also affords the victims of Pinochet the same tone - the flowery, poetic language describing the heavenly bodies in the skies and in the furthest reaches of the galaxies and beyond is also applied to the bodies and minerals buried in the sands of the desert. The cinematography here, when not concerned with authenticity and vigorously shaking the camera whilst it follows these human beings in their daily activities, tries to match the majesty of the time-lapses of the stars and the supernovas flying by, but of course that is impossible, so to substitute Guzman awkwardly inserts archival footage to attempt a power balance. But not before he gives an exhumed corpse the same insufferable treatment: a slow, meandering gaze, the camera moving as patiently as possible, as if to milk every last drop of profundity even as we do not hold the same emotional perspective as the real victims and their loved ones. Much of the documentary is filled with these moments. The opening is the agonisingly long sequence of events of machinery and gears grinding and whirring around to begin another day of stargazing. And in the end too, it seems to facilitate the same objective, but also the joining of the two groups in a mutual admiration of the stars. It adds what I assume is a digital effect, portraying the very essence of being caressed by star dust, little golden particles floating around in the air. This does not look particularly convincing - it instead renders a magical, fairytale like effect. For all the faux awe-inspiring images this film gives us, none are as effective as the simple recount from Valentina, who is amongst those still mourning the unseen losses from Pinochet's dictatorship. She connects the two strands much better than any whispered, ostentatious figurative language could. It is not a link that hurtles across universal spaces to force a similarity but rather a personal, determined one, borne out of her own grief and emotional bargaining. There is not a hint of posturing here. The same might not be said of her grandparents, whose director's staging instructions were probably 'stare silently and forlornly at the camera'.

Raven-1969 The great telescopes of the Atacama desert, they look into the sky as well as our hearts. In our lifetimes the Pinochet regime tortured and/or killed over 60,000 people. This enthralling documentary, both sorrowful and hopeful, explores how stars, history and victims as well as survivors of an oppressive regime merge into one.The images of a body with legs still chained and wrists bound, people digging in the desert for remains of their loved ones, a country that does not acknowledge the recent past, the testimony of a woman who lost her parents and drawings from the Chacabuco concentration camp merge with images of galaxies and supernovas, and talk of a current of energy, new life, pulsing through our existence. It is powerful stuff. Transitions and better organization are all that are wanting with this film.

Jackson Booth-Millard I have seen a few of the small number of documentaries featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, this Spanish language one I was hoping would be another worth entry. Narrated by director Patricio Guzmán the film opens in the Atacama Desert in Chile, a place in the world with no moisture whatsoever. Astronomers are peering deep into the cosmos of space, looking at the alignment of planets and stars, searching for answers concerning the origins of life, on Earth and possibly elsewhere. Also in the desert are a group of women sifting through the sand searching for the body parts of people, including their loved ones, who were killed in concentration camps and dumped unceremoniously during the regime of Pinochet. This film is both an insight into astrology and a political look into Chile's dark past, it has great visuals of the desert and outer space, and also features archaeology and footage of the historical horror of death under Pinochet. I will admit it was not easy to follow the entire film, because it switched the two genres every so often, and you obviously have to read the subtitles during, it's not the sort of film I'd see more than once, but it was an interesting enough documentary. Worth watching, at least once, in my opinion!

Ben Larson This film is not a documentary in the traditional sense. It is more a work of poetry, or a spiritual experience.The brutal results of Pinochet's military dictatorship are meshed with the search for the origins of the universe. Both subjects deal with the past, as we only have past and future; there is no present as Augustine said many years ago.So, astronomers are really archaeologists. They study space to discover the past. Writer/director Patricio Guzmán combines this "archaeology" with the archaeologists who search the desert for the bodies buried by Pinochet.A fascinating story.