72. The Silence of the Mole (El silencio del Topo); movie review
THE SILENCE OF THE MOLE (EL SILENCIO DEL TOPO)
Cert TBA
93 mins
BBFC advice: TBA
We often complain about politics in the UK but films such as Anaïs Taracena's should prompt us to realise how lucky we are.
The Silence Of The Mole is set in Guatemala where people were either tortured or simply disappeared if they were in opposition to the fascist government.
Ironically, it was propped up by the Americans who claim to have the greatest democracy in the world.
Taracena's documentary tells the story of Elías Barahona, a former journalist who infiltrated the corridors of power for four years.
It boggles the mind to think that a representative of the underground opposition managed to become a trusted ally of the man who ordered the killings of hundreds if not thousands of people.
The film begins with him giving testimony to a public inquiry two weeks before he died of natural causes.
It then spins back to the 1970s and tells Guatemala's bloody history and explains Elias's role as a guerilla in the midst of the hated government.
Very little footage of any type remains from the time of the country's civil war because it is believed it was destroyed before it could incriminate people.
Nevertheless, Taracena's team has dug deep and come up with some video recordings from the time as well as current interviews to fill the gaps.
They paint a terrifying picture of living in a country under an iron fist.
However, we couldn't fathom how Elias used the information he gleaned from working in government to help the rebels.
Or how many times he was forced to watch helplessly as violence took place in front of his eyes or orders were given to murder.
We were not satisfied that the answers ever fully emerged but The Silence Of The Mole still made us aware of horrors which had previously passed us by.
And it left us wondering how people live cheek by jowl with the perpetrators now that the war is over.
Reasons to watch: Lifted the lid on the grim history of Guatemala
Reasons to avoid: Unanswered questions
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10
Did you know? More than 200,000 people were killed over the 36 years of the Guatemalan civil war. About 83% of those killed were indigenous Mayans. 93% of human rights violations were carried out by the state.
The final word. Anaïs Taracena: "What led me to tell this story is a desire to try to understand the generation of my parents and more specifically, the generation of my father, a militant in the revolutionary movement who was exiled for many years." Women and Hollywood
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