“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is a documentary film directed by Kim Bartley and Donnacha O’Briain, and released in 2002. The documentary chronicles an April 2002 coup attempt on Hugo Chavez that backfired, and utilizes real-life footage to construct a narrative that pits the current Venezuelan President against two leading detractors who plan on removing him from office. The following entry will examine how the film constructs a narrative out of this real-life event by using documentary footage.
Before the coup took place, an Irish film crew was allowed access to film Hugo Chavez as early as September 2001. Kim Bartley and Donnacha O’Briain originally planned to make a basic documentary on Chavez and his life. However, seven months into their stay, signs of disarray from the private media and right-wing politicians culminated into a short-lived coup that removed Chavez from office for a only a few days. The Irish film crew had their cameras on the entire time, and “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” was the result.
The film introduces the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, as a hero to the poor with far-left policies and an anti-imperialistic agenda. In the words of the film’s narrator, Chavez “…stands out as a controversial and passionate leader.” The film crew show Chavez talking to everyday people, listening to their concerns, and at one point, singing a folksong with a mentally disable adolescent. The film plants him as a warm-hearted, likable fellow who wants only the best for his country. The filmmakers also sympathize with Chavez’s supporters, as shown in a scene where, at the Presidential Palace, Chavez’s assistants read a handful of his fan-mail from local people, which borders on the thousands, and also, in interviews conducted on the streets of Caracas with ordinary citizens, who love Chavez to death. The film crew also went into the richer parts of Venezuela and interviewed upper-class citizens, many of whom seem to think that Chavez’s supporters are ignorant, gun-toting poor people.
The film constantly shifts from its original footage with news footage from private Venezuelan media, who are vocal in their opposition to Chavez.
The narrator comments that “the privately owned media began calling for demonstrations, suggesting that Chavez’s attempts to control the oil industry were a direct attack on their prosperity.” The audience is then introduced to the two main oppositional forces against Chavez: “Pedro Carmona, President of Venezuela’s largest business federation,” and “Carlos Ortega, head of CTV, a trade union with strong ties to the old political system.” The privately owned media calls for demonstrations against Chavez, which in turn causes riots in all the major Venezuelan cities, with Chavez detractors squaring off against Chavez supporters. The violence culminates in Chavez’s removal from office by dissident military officials. The right-wing enlists a puppet government with Carmona as President, but it doesn’t last. Chavez supporters in the military retake the Presidential Palace and assist with the reinstatement of Chavez and his cabinet.
All three acts in narrative film are utilized here. The first act introduces the protagonist, Chavez, and the antagonists, Ortega and Carmona. The second act covers the coup and the right’s taking of the Presidential Palace, while the third covers the removal of the right from office and the reinstatement of Chavez and his cabinet. The film is a perfect example of how filmmakers build a narrative out of the factual. Indeed, the situation of the coup is far more complex than I illustrated, but for the sake of conciseness and clearer understanding, the filmmakers rely on narrative structure to deliver a message that is clearly pro-Chavez. The film can be seen as either a piece of leftist propaganda for supplying an opinion, or as a gripping, dense, political drama where the audience wants to know what happens next.
The writer opines that a viewer can come to this film with no knowledge of Chavez or Venezuela, and still find it to be an enthralling piece of filmmaking.
A link to the entire film:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5832390545689805144
1 comment:
This is a really good overview of how this film utilizes classical film narrative structures to tell the story of Hugo Chavez and the coup attempt. You've done a good job of using clear cut examples to illustrate each of your points, especially when you point out visual details used in the film such as Chavez singing folk songs and his assistants reading fan mail.
It might have been helpful to go into further detail about how each of the three acts of the film parallel classical three act narrative structure.
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