The movie Neruda portrays the political aspects of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda’s life. The movie was more centered around the point in Neruda’s life when he hails communism despite the fact that the president in Chile is against the communist party. The president demands his arrest, turning Neruda into an underground fugitive, with an inspector who is following his trail. Neruda taunts the regime and the inspector on several occasions, where he is intent on making appearances and being in contact with the people. He moves people with his words and speeches about the suffering of the poor and virtues of communism. He makes a few unsuccessful attempts to flee Chile. Ultimately, Pablo chooses a path through the mountains bordering Argentina. The inspector follows him into the mountains but dies in an attack by locals. The ending was somewhat confusing to me (I may need to watch the movie again.) During his last moments, the inspector could still hear Pablo’s words on how Pablo is the person who created him. And when Pablo hears his name being called in the mountains, he goes towards the inspector and appears to know what is happening. In the end, Pablo manages to leave Chile. The movie portrays Pablo as the protagonist and the inspector as the antagonist, and each is a necessary ingredient in making the other character shine through. It’s almost as if one could not exist without the presence of the other, which may also explain the still confusing ending
Before watching the movie Neruda, I remembered that I had read one of his poems in my literature class and I did not know much about him. I was quite fascinated with how a poet can be remembered in the society for their political influence, and that there were many facets to Pablo’s life besides being a poet. Overall, the movie is a deep and moving portrayal of a window in Pablo’s life and character.