The Judge & the General

In September 1973, following an intense period of civil unrest, the democratically elected president of Chile, Marxist Salvador Allende, was overthrown in a military coup (Allende was either killed or committed suicide). Encouraged by America's CIA, Chile's military under the leadership of General Augusto Pinoche quickly moved to quell disorder. What followed was a brutal 17-year dictatorship marked by the torture and murder of thousands of Chilean dissidents intellectuals, artists, and students who simply disappeared. When Pinochet's rule finally ended, a commission led by Judge Juan Guzmán was formed to investigate the brutal regime's secret campaign of fear and terror. Elizabeth Farnsworth and Patricio Lanfranco's PBS-aired documentary The Judge & the General follows Guzmán's travels through Chile (often accompanied by bodyguards) as he researches Pinochet-era crimes in the hopes of creating an “explosion of truth, an explosion of justice.” The film interviews Guzmán, former dissidents, and a Pinochet henchman and alleged torturer, particularly highlighting the infamous “caravan of death” countrywide search to identify and eliminate Pinochet's opponents (some of the horrendous practices seem straight out of a bad movie, such as prisoners being flung out of helicopters into the sea). Guzmán uneasily notes his own middle-class sympathies toward Pinochet during the early years, even to the extent of signing some orders as a judge that helped further official repression. Although Pinochet was never convicted, he spent his last years under house arrest and was denied the dignity and honors of a state funeral. A perceptive and timely commentary that illustrates just how quickly a supposedly civilized society can be transformed into a human-rights nightmare, The Judge & the General is presented here in both English and Spanish-language versions. [Note: this is also available with public performance rights for $295 from The Cinema Guild, www.cinemaguild.com]. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)