An Impossible Life: Confession as a Framework for Guilt and Absolution in Manuela Martelli’s Chile, '76

Abstract

Dictatorship infiltrates every facet of the life of the individual and every rational for the decisions they make. This theme is explored in the film, Chile, '76 directed by Manuella Marelli, through the character of Carmen, a wealthy woman from a higher class. The plot follows Carmen as she cares for an injured man who is hiding from political violence during the dictatorship of Chile (1973-1990). The decisions she makes throughout the film and her reasoning in the final scene reflect the complexity of life under a dictatorship. A primary way this is revealed is through the use of religious symbology, especially the symbol of confession. Mike Hepworth and Bryan S. Turner write about confession in the social sphere claiming, “Confession is a socially constructed means of celebrating the value for the individual and society of sincerity and honesty. In other words, the symbolic and functional necessity of values which are in opposition to lying and deceit” (222). Considering the thoughts of these writers and Chile, '76, we must ask, what is the importance of confession as a symbol in the film Chile, '76? With the confession of Carmen, this presentation will argue that confession is a symbolic action to draw lines between the guilt of an individual and the guilt of a dictatorship, providing a framework for the absolution of the individual that lives under dictatorship.