The Battle of Chile: Popular Power

While parts one and two of this trilogy provide a detailed and chronological account of events leading up to the military coup of 11 September 1973, part three has director Patricio Guzmán looking back at the final year of the democratically elected president Salvador Allende’s left-wing government.

Starting with a parade through the capital in which Allende is cheered by his supporters, the film goes on to deal with a number of crucial developments in the period that followed, with commentary by Guzmán. Workers repeatedly foil attempts by the right-wing opposition—referred to by Allende’s working-class supporters as “the mummies”—to paralyze the country’s economy. They coordinate their efforts and set up systems to manage the production and distribution of food and goods themselves.

A movement of popular power is growing, but there’s an element of melancholy to this final part, which was edited some years later in Cuba. By this time, it’s clear that the country has entered a dark era.