Neruda is a biographical drama that shows how Chilean poet and communist politician Pablo Neruda escaped the fascist regime of his home country to Argentine and later on to France. Even for those who are interested in Chilean culture and history, Neruda is at times hard to sit through and an average movie at best.
On the positive side, the story includes multiple historic facets and introduces the viewers to an interesting set of side characters. The locations have been chosen with care and especially the mountaineous territories between Argentine and Chile are impressive. The cinematography is calm and precise which makes for a timeless film.
On the negative side, the movie mostly focuses on repetitive dialogues that are at times hard to sit through. It's difficult to empathize with the lead characters as Pablo Neruda comes off as a pretentious intellectual who likes to recite his poems, drink expensive wine and seduce every woman he meets as his actions contradict his political convictions. His opponent Oscar Peluchonneau is a puppet of the fascist regime who has neither family nor friends and seems clueless in his helpless attempts to capture the titular character.
At the end of the day, Neruda is only interesting for those who have profound ties with or interests in Chilean culture. The movie itself drags on for far too long and can only convince with its cinematography, costumes and settings. I would neither watch it again nor recommend it to anyone.
On the positive side, the story includes multiple historic facets and introduces the viewers to an interesting set of side characters. The locations have been chosen with care and especially the mountaineous territories between Argentine and Chile are impressive. The cinematography is calm and precise which makes for a timeless film.
On the negative side, the movie mostly focuses on repetitive dialogues that are at times hard to sit through. It's difficult to empathize with the lead characters as Pablo Neruda comes off as a pretentious intellectual who likes to recite his poems, drink expensive wine and seduce every woman he meets as his actions contradict his political convictions. His opponent Oscar Peluchonneau is a puppet of the fascist regime who has neither family nor friends and seems clueless in his helpless attempts to capture the titular character.
At the end of the day, Neruda is only interesting for those who have profound ties with or interests in Chilean culture. The movie itself drags on for far too long and can only convince with its cinematography, costumes and settings. I would neither watch it again nor recommend it to anyone.