NEW FILM BY COSTA-GAVRAS EXAMINES THE CHILEAN COUP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303370002-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 29, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: February 7, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303370002-5
ON PAGE
_ L--/
"MIMNG"
NEW YORK TIMES
7 FEBRUARY 1.1382
the course of an interview Mr. Costa ,
Gavras didn't pretend that it is. w
l "Dolt ask a film director to be a polit.
.1. .1 ~.~ ing here. "Either you give two points
of view, or you say. `Here?s what I, r
think I draw my own conclusion ' " Ie
~/~e~J i.t - aura 3 That is the problem. The film gives
69 y one point-or view, essentially Ed t
?~ Horman's, -but its claim to present a
amines Li ie: basic historical truth puts it in a differ- c
By FLORA LEWIS
lions and political thrillers. It is a tech-
nique whicir-raises serious ethical,
moral and political as well as artistic ! d
questions:+=sTY i'
rated closely`with the author of 'the
lance writer named Charles - --- ? -- solo we amrerary or L erense (then
cials he portrays nor to consult the .Melvin Laird It was an extraordi
Norman was killed during: ' records, particularly of the Senate In- nary meeting
the 1973 coup that brought,:; telligeace Committee headed by Sena
the Pinochet regime to powep, for Frank Church Democrat of Idaho
PAR'S- reproduce them." But he made no ef-
in Chile. ~ - , ,?i -which made extensive investigations . Nonetheless, 'Allende was elected.1
Fact: His father, a New York indu... and issued a report on "Covert Action After that, according to the Church
trial, designer, was told that hiss sq in Chile: 1963.1973.,, Committee and statements by Nathan-;
was issing and went to Chile in what. "The director can't do everything," iel Davis, who was Ambassador in
became a desperate search ta- tad' ; he said. "Hauser did the research and Santiago from 1971 until shortly after]
Charles. Edmund C. Horman, thefar saw all those people, and I went the 1973 coup, the United States ctan-!
ther, . gradually became convinced through all his notes." neled funds to political parties, press
that the American Embassy in-San;, The difficulty is that the role of the . and radio stations in Chile but stayed-
tiago not only knew about the murder United States in Chile remains an ex- away from violent right wingers and
from the start but was intent on : ex~ tremely controversial, emotional sub- military plots.
cealing it because It shared resposih:- ject. A good deal has been made public
? bility. He later sued 11 high United; and it documents some nasty episodes, The thesis, Mr. Davis wrote in the
States officials for$4 million, but aft When Salvador Allende's regime was Foreign Service Journal ,in 1978, was ;
' a year and a half the case was. dis-, overturned by Gen. Augusto Pinochet that the Allende Government was put-
missed for lack of evidence.: . in a vast, murderous rampage, many ting such intense pressure on the oppo- '
Fact: A lawyer named Thomas.. people, particularly French Socialists, sition's capacity to survive that it
Hauser was drawn Inta the Hormaf felt it showed the United States would might be unable to contest the next :
family's crusade and wrote a. bookgo to any length to prevent the sur- - election scheduled for 1976. The secret
about the incident called "The Execu,. vival of another leftist government be..: subsidies, he said, were to enable op-
ti
on of Charles Horman: An American sides Cuba in the' Western Hemi- position parties and distributors of in-
Sacrifice,"published inl979. sphere. The French. left indentifled ? formation to compete with Govern-
Fact: Costa-Gavras, the Paris. . their own aims with Allende. The coup :.went-supported parties and press.:
based Greek :.director who: made: became a kind of litmus test for the
powerful political films about cases in, Paris intelligentsia, a sequel to the t "We still have not, as a society,
Greece, Czechoslovakia and Uruguay Vietnam war. s: J thought through the practical and ethi
accepted an offer from. Universal -td cal implications of covert actioa,c_ Mr~
make a movie from the Hauser book. . Newspaper reports, especially those' Davis said: He pointed out, and the
It is called "Missing," stars Jack 'of Seymour M. Hersh in The New York I record confirms, that he successfully,
Lemmon and Sissy Spacek and.. it Times, and lengthy records- of the ! opposed C.I.A. suggestions to support'
opens in New York an Friday at_ the Church Committee in 1975 and 1978 ! strikes and demonstrations to under-
Beekman- theater., It is tautly well;; 'showed that the United States had in- mine Allende.
made and cinematically convincing.y . deed been involved in Chilean politics.
Fiction: '?this film' is based oa a 'The most damaging evidence related However, Richard Helms and Hal
true story. The Incidents and facts are to C.I.A. activity attempting to pre- Hendrix, an I.T.T. official, were con.,
documented. Some of the names have ; vent Allende's election in 1970. At that victed of perjury for their testimony
been changed to protect the innocent time, it was revealed, an infamous . before a 1973 Senate committee on
and also to protect the film." .'operation called ."Track - II" linked what " happened in 1970. And there was I
i his m e s s a g e is shown at.tne start . ? wing groups..-,,.:.. _.?:.:. __._
the film. In many cases.real-a%n s
-^I tare used, real?wensm-areevoked:,tsai
tenceemtez$ portrayed. These devices
C .and the ifinector's-art.are com'tineci ta?
J persuade the aixtience that ttwwi k j
14;6 States helped plan the -poop in Chile.
Helms not to inform Ambassador
Korry and two top cabinet members of
that plot. Credibility became a serious
,:. issue in disentangling the. Chile story.
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."'ands Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/29: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303370002-5