If you knew how Neruda died, perhaps you would feel very differently about the hopeful ending of "The Exiled Poet Neruda."
The real Neruda was excavated a few years ago in order to investigate whether he died of prostate cancer more than 40 years ago, as officially stated, or whether he was killed by the tyrant Pinoche who had just seized power at the time. Poisoned by Augusto Pinochet. Neruda in the movie, after a long-distance "mouse and cat" hide-and-seek, finally escaped from Chile and continued to recite poetry in the free country of Europe, enjoying the aura of a political fighter and amorous poet. It was twenty-one years before the poet's death. Director Pablo Larrain tried to make Neruda's escape into a poetic form. The policeman Oscar who hunted down Neruda is not only fictional in terms of historical facts, but he is also half-truth in the story. During the pursuit, the poet gave flesh and blood through words. The storytelling and editing violate the usual coherence, the rhythm jumps like a Trailer, interfering with the suspenseful and tense plot, deliberate but not surprising. The photography emphasizes natural sunlight, the texture is similar to "The Revenant" (The Revenant), the pearl and jade are in the front, and the motive and effect are questionable.
What the film doesn't mention is that Neruda later returned home, elected president, got another wife, and helped his comrade-in-arms Salvador Allende take the presidency in 1970. Three years later, on September 11, the president committed suicide in a coup, and the poet died twelve days later. It was suspected that he was actually killed by a poison shot by a spy. In 2013, following in the footsteps of Allende, Neruda was exhumed for a post-mortem examination. Two years later, it was concluded that he was "probably killed rather than ill." The cause of Neruda's death is still unknown. The forensic report is no more true than his love poems, and always the poet should lie in the bed of the lover and not the forensic doctor.
(Abridged version originally published on am730 "730 Perspective" on September 5, 2017)
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