Missing

Missing (Criterion #449).
1982 Universal Pictures & Polygram Pictures.
Starring: Sissy Spacek, Jack Lemmon, Melanie Mayron, John Shea, Charles Cioffi, David Clennon, Richard Venture, Joe Regalbuto
Music: Vangelis
Director: Costa-Gavras
Amazon listings: Criterion DVD. Original release to DVD by Universal.

American journalist Charles Horman settled in Chile to work as a freelance writer in 1972. Six days after General Augusto Pinochet led a coup that overthrew socialist president Salvador Allende, Horman was seized by Chilean soldiers, and taken to the National Stadium in Santiago, which was serving as a temporary concentration camp where prisoners were interrogated, tortured, and executed. For about a month, Horman's whereabouts were unknown, but it was later determined that his body was buried inside one of the stadium's walls, before turning up at a morgue. At the time that Pinochet seized power, Horman was in a resort town called Vina del Mar, which was a key base for the coup plotters and U.S. military and intelligence personnel supporting them. Horman spoke with several U.S. operatives and took notes documenting the assumed role of the U.S. in overthrowing Allende, which presumably led to his secret arrest, disappearence, and execution. Horman's family tried to find out his final fate, but were met with resistance and duplicity by U.S. embassy officials, who allegedly knew that he was definitely executed, and why.

Missing is based on Horman's story. The movie is set in an unspecified South American nation (clearly intended to be Chile). Director Costa-Gavras opens with a statement that the events of the film are true, but some things have been changed for the movie to protect it, as well as the innocent. Two Americans, Charlie (Shea) and Beth (Spacek) Horman have elected to settle in Chile, simply because they enjoy it there, and not for any political reasons. For all of the country's problems, they've made some good friends and enjoy living there. Then, during some chaotic events, Charlie suddenly disappears. Beth has no idea what happened, or where he ended up. She turns to the American consulate for help, but they're not very helpful, and insist on giving the same vague, canned non-answers whenever she approaches them.

Charlie's father Ed (Lemmon) arrives, convinced that Beth's liberal views have been the reason why the American officials will not cooperate with her requests for information. Ed is a gung-ho patriotic conservative convinced that the American way is always 100 percent right and true, while Beth instinctively doesn't trust her own government to do or say the right thing in any situation. Despite their differences, they must work together to find out the truth about Charlie's disappearance. The days turn into weeks, and Ed is horrified to learn that he and his family were betrayed by the U.S. government on behalf of the "friendly" dictator who engineered and carried out the chaos and violence gripping the territory.

Missing was banned in Chile during Pinochet's regime, even if the nation wasn't mentioned by name in the film. The movie was also removed from the market after Costa-Gavras and Universal were sued by former Ambassador Nathaniel Davis, who was portrayed in the movie by Richard Venture. Lew Wasserman, who was then the head of Universal, supported the movie enough that he insisted the studio absolutely refuse to negotiate any kind of settlement with Davis. The suit was eventually dismissed, and Missing was issued on DVD, first by Universal, and then by Criterion shortly thereafter. Also, the real life Ed Horman and Joyce Horman (who Spacek's character Beth was based on) worked closely with the production of the movie.

A winner of an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay, Missing also garnered three more nominations: Best Actor (Lemmon), Best Actress (Spacek), and Best Picture. Jack Lemmon did win the Best Actor Award at Cannes, though, an acolade that he deserved. He and Spacek gave some fantastic performances here, making Missing one hell of a powerful film not afraid to suggest that our own government can and will betray its own citizens for their own needs. Highly recommended movie.