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During his visit to Chile, Barack Obama said, "I think it’s important, though, for us, even as we understand our history and gain clarity about our history, that we’re not trapped by our history". NO is a film about the historic plebiscite of 1988 on whether General Pinochet should stay in power for another 8 years and the role played by Television Advertising.

The important things which grew in the last 2 decades are Television and Internet. Both have shown enormous penetration and its influence. In India, both have taken a different path in the course of time. News has important place in both these areas and they have dramatically changed in the past 2 decades. From Arun Shourie's crusade against corruption by coming with a front page headline of "Good Morning Prime Minister" to a news channel doing a fake interview with a Bollywood star in his car asking about his political inclinations and on who is the best Prime Minister candidate in 2009.

Chile is a thin strip country on the west coast of South America. The plebiscite of 1988 is a divided into two groups, YES of General Augusto Pinochet who came to power by a coup and the NO camp who are a formation of several opposition parties who want to bring back democracy. The YES and NO camp would be provided with 15 minutes on Television for 27 days to come with their advertisements. The NO camp approaches a brilliant advertisement creator Rene Saavedra played by Gael García Bernal. Gael García Bernal is one of the very few young actors who travels continents with his talent. Be it with the Mexican film about dogs 'Amores perros', to act like a transgender in Pedro Almodóvar's 'Bad Education' and as a Chilean in 'NO'.

The first scene of the film made me feel that there was something wrong with my eyes but later realized that the whole film was shot with Sony U-matic magnetic tape to get the feel of late 80's. The decision to shoot the film with magnetic tapes had divided the critics but i felt that it was a smart decision and it added the impact which the filmmaker was intending for.

NO gives out the precise details on how things happen on Television, how the YES and NO teams approach the advertising campaign, the discussions which happen among the members of the groups, the way they want to get the attention of the public, the logo designs, the style of the 15 minute television content etc..

The films shows the discussions and altercations in the NO group, they have doubts whether this referendum is a waste, some have already given up hope and they just want to fill the space given to them by military rule with facts, murders, exiles happened during the military dictatorship  and want to educate people. The unique ideas of Rene Saavedra are rejected saying that the advertisements are not dark and they look like a joke on them, but he somehow fits them into the campaign. The thin fabric of father-son relationship is carefully crafted, his son is a witness to all the bullying, threats and frenzy campaign and accompanied with the complicated relationship of his father and mother.

The advertising ideas of Rene Saavedra are unusual, rebellious would be perfect word as the NO camp has a lot of dark memories of killings, torture, police firings, demonstrations  etc... during the military dictatorship but Rene Saavedra chooses to go with bright and colorful methods like giving a rainbow design to the NO logo, young blondes in their Television ads etc.. though these were questioned and almost rejected, but he believed that these methods are definitely better than the usual methods of advertising.

The NO group feels that the opposition has no definition, the question of what defines them is also important as people are not going to vote just because the military enforced a dictatorship. Self questioning makes that realize that they may be giving a feeling of false hope, deeply internalized situation, preventing the voters from feeling free at the moment of voting, because they're completely repressed. As a result, with so many unanswerable questions, the results are quite unsure and Rene Saavedra feels that the NO group needs a miracle to win this plebiscite.

Though the YES group under international pressure accepted for a plebiscite they are quite sure that by giving the option of referendum they have already won it and the NO group who also feel the same at a point discuss about various aspects on how people going to perceive this plebiscite. They are worried that people may feel that the NO group may bring the bad days of Communism, old people are skeptical about the future if NO wins, the middle class are not sure what NO camp stands for and young feel that this is fixed and may not even come out and vote.

There are many questions which the NO camp has to face unlike the YES camp. They have to understand what people want, what do they want to see on television in the 15 minutes allotted to them, will the future Chile go into chaos and uncertainty if NO manages to win the plebiscite etc.. but among all these crucial questions, its the advertising approach which fills the enthusiasm in the  people, the foot-tapping soundtrack and the smart way to inform facts to people.

Some parties of the NO camp do not want to be associated with Communism, they prefer to be tagged with Socialism and go along with other parties like Christian Democrats, Socialist democrats etc.. we even see Hollywood actor Christopher Reeve who played the role Superman addressing the people of Chile. International journalists covering the event actively, the tension on the counting day, the YES camp already celebrated their future win, the intermediate results being announced and the small deep inner hope of Rene Saavedra.

The one thing which the director conveyed all through the film is about the commitment of an individual to what he believes in. He is threatened, has a good probability of losing his job as his boss works for YES camp, his complicated relationship with his wife, his emotional bonding with his son and risk of losing his loved ones. The scene after the final results are announced sums up all the commitment and effort of an individual.

NO is a political drama film which should not be missed, it is a must watch for film lovers and political enthusiasts. As in our country, its the season of elections, political parties can learn few things and can give a thought about how a common man perceives situations.