No

"CHILE, HAPPINESS IS COMING!"

2012 1h 58m ES

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 490

DramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In 1988, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, is forced to call a plebiscite on his presidency. The country will vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to Pinochet extending his rule for another eight years. Opposition leaders for the ‘No’ vote persuade a brash young advertising executive, René Saavedra, to spearhead their campaign. Against all odds, with scant resources and while under scrutiny by the despot’s minions, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and set Chile free.

“CHILE, HAPPINESS IS COMING!”

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Cast

Gael García Bernal
René Saaverdra
Alfredo Castro
Lucho Guzmán
Néstor Cantillana
Fernando
Luis Gnecco
Urrutia
Antonia Zegers
Verónica
Jaime Vadell
Minister Fernández
Diego Muñoz
Carlos
Alejandro Goic
Ricardo

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Pablo Larraín
Writers: Pedro Peirano
Languages: Spanish
Countries: Chile, United States of America, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 14 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Chile, United States of America, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Pablo Larraín, shot by Sergio Armstrong. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Carlos Cabezas. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Andrea Chignoli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Gael García Bernal and Alfredo Castro and Néstor Cantillana carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "CHILE, HAPPINESS IS COMING!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt2059255 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Pablo Larraín directs. Sergio Armstrong behind the camera. Carlos Cabezas scores. Andrea Chignoli cuts. Produced in Chile, United States of America, France. Dialogue in Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 14 years ago.
2International production across 3 countries: Chile, United States of America, France.
3Directed by Pablo Larraín, shot by Sergio Armstrong. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Carlos Cabezas. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Andrea Chignoli shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Gael García Bernal and Alfredo Castro and Néstor Cantillana carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "CHILE, HAPPINESS IS COMING!".
8IMDB entry: tt2059255 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 12 themes, including "campaign", "dictatorship", "based on true story", "chile".

The technical file

Cinematography: Sergio Armstrong
Original score: Carlos Cabezas
Editing: Andrea Chignoli
Costume design: Francisca Román
Makeup / hair: Margarita Marchi
VFX supervisor: Ismael Cabrera
Sound: Miguel Hormazábal
Stunt coordinator: Wernher Schurmann
Runtime: 118 min · 1h 58m
Status: Released
Box office: $2,341,226
Original language: ES
Certification (US): R
IMDB: No (2012)

Awards

Tromsø International Film Festival's audience award

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Pablo Larraín

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Andres Gomez2013-12-04
★ 8/10
Interesting and informative movie about the events that started the transition in Chile from the dictatorship to the democracy.
badelf2021-11-15
★ 8/10
This is an amazing true story. The directing feels messy, but it's clear that it was intended to imitate the mess that surrounded this story in real life. Pinochet was one of several dictators that was installed by United States through the agency of the CIA. Why? We can only guess that the sitting Chilean president had left leanings which seems to piss off Americans to no end. (Health care? Oh no - that would be socialist!! Much better to let citizens die or go bankrupt trying to survive.) The USA's little puppet then proceeded to murder and torture thousands of Chileans. Quite probably, the US trained those torturers. The official count is 29,000, plus 3000 dead, plus an uncounted number of "desaparecidos" (mysteriously missing forever). It is beneficial to first watch "Nostalgia de la Luz" which will help give you some understanding of Chileans' relationship with Pinochet.
CinemaSerf2026-03-08
★ 7/10
Fifteen years into his dictatorship, Augusto Pinochet was compelled by international pressure to hold a plebiscite on continuing his rule over Chile for a further eight years. With the entire political and media establishment behind him, his supporters expected a bit of a cake walk - but they hadn’t factored on the creative force of the “no” campaign that was being framed by “René Saavedra” (Gael García Bernal). He was more used to running commercial advertisements for soft drinks, but when his agency are given what looks like the poisoned chalice to challenge the government, he allies himself with what little there is by way of open opposition and proceeds to create a campaign that causes ructions from within his own side. He decides against rubbishing the generals. He doesn’t just list all of their brutalities as a series of eye-watering statistics. Instead, he turns the whole thing on it’s head by extolling the virtues of the promise of free society and the “happiness” that will ensue if the citizenry embrace this opportunity for freedom, liberty and democracy. Of course, the army and the police are never far from his home and so he is constantly wary of attacks on his colleagues, his young son “Simón” (Pascal Montero) and his ex-wife “Verónica” (Antonia Zegers) - herself a courageous campaigner unafraid of taking a few beatings at the hands of the zealous authorities. With only fifteen minutes of airtime per day, and with their pre-recorded broadcasts often restricted or leaked to the pro-Pinochet faction, what are the chances that their almost hippie style of kumbaya messaging might gain traction? Now if you’re looking for a documentary on the decline and fall of this regime, or for any meaningful critique of Pinochet or his administration then you are probably going to be disappointed. This takes a far more individualistic approach to the activities of one man who beat the system by inventing a new one. Bernal’s “Saavedra” isn’t an especially brave man, nor is he inherently revolutionary by nature. He is a family man making a decent living who has, hitherto, had little to do with the excesses of the military. Indeed at the start, you might be forgiven for feeling that he is doing a job as if it were cheesy Wotsits he was promoting. As the violence increases, though, and his investment in the cause increases Pablo Larraín makes sure our’s does too. To help achieve that, the levels of snooping and intimidation are cleverly laid bare by seamlessly incorporating archive actuality footage into the drama of real riots; real police brutality on the streets and of Pinochet himself - albeit sparingly - as he deigned to participate in a referendum that nobody expected him to lose. It’s those documentary elements that poignantly underpin the more dramatic ones and though perhaps Bernal wouldn’t have been my first choice for this role on paper, he proves perfectly capable of crafting a character that epitomises the senses of fear and opportunity that the newsreel style of filmed presentation throughout delivers quite well. This isn’t the whole story of these eventful days, but it is a plausible look at one piece of that perilous jigsaw.