Paris-based Chilean director Patricio Guzmán is a master of documentary and essay films. The film traces Chile’s history of violence through a pearl button that connects the heartbreaking tale of the extermination of Patagonia’s native water nomads with the fate of political prisoners under the regime of Augusto Pinochet. Mediating on human nature beyond national and even global boundaries, Guzman turns to the water vapor stored in quasars for hope of a fresh start for humanity. A film of unusual, cruel beauty, at once accessible and mind-boggling.
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