State of Siege
Encyclopedia
State of Siege is a 1972 French film directed by Costa Gavras starring Yves Montand
and Renato Salvatori
.
n country in the early 1970s, Santorean is kidnapped by a group of urban guerrillas. The story is based by Costa Gavras on an actual incident in Uruguay
in 1970 when U.S. Embassy official Dan Mitrione
was kidnapped and killed.
Using Santore's interrogation by his captors as a backdrop, the film explores the often brutal consequences of the struggle between the repressive government of Montevideo
and the leftist Tupamaro guerrillas. Using death squad
s, the government decimates the revolutionary group, whose surviving members vote to execute the smugly calculating Santore, who is accused of arranging training in torture and political manipulation. In the finale a replacement U.S. official arrives, watched from the crowd by a defiant and angry survivor of the radical group.
Yves Montand
-Early life:Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, the son of poor peasants Giuseppina and Giovanni Livi, a broommaker. Montand's mother was a devout Catholic, while his father held strong Communist beliefs. Because of the Fascist regime in Italy, Montand's family left for France in...
and Renato Salvatori
Renato Salvatori
Renato Salvatori was an Italian multi-purpose character actor.-Biography:Salvatori was born in Seravezza, Province of Lucca....
.
Summary
Yves Montand plays Philip Michael Santore, an official of the US Agency for International Development (an organisation sometimes used as a front for training foreign police in counterinsurgency methods). Posted to a fictional South AmericaSouth America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n country in the early 1970s, Santorean is kidnapped by a group of urban guerrillas. The story is based by Costa Gavras on an actual incident in Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
in 1970 when U.S. Embassy official Dan Mitrione
Dan Mitrione
Daniel A. Mitrione was an Italian-born American police officer, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and a United States government advisor for the Central Intelligence Agency in Latin America.- Career :...
was kidnapped and killed.
Using Santore's interrogation by his captors as a backdrop, the film explores the often brutal consequences of the struggle between the repressive government of Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
and the leftist Tupamaro guerrillas. Using death squad
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
s, the government decimates the revolutionary group, whose surviving members vote to execute the smugly calculating Santore, who is accused of arranging training in torture and political manipulation. In the finale a replacement U.S. official arrives, watched from the crowd by a defiant and angry survivor of the radical group.
Cast
- Yves MontandYves Montand-Early life:Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, the son of poor peasants Giuseppina and Giovanni Livi, a broommaker. Montand's mother was a devout Catholic, while his father held strong Communist beliefs. Because of the Fascist regime in Italy, Montand's family left for France in...
- Philip Michael Santore - Renato SalvatoriRenato SalvatoriRenato Salvatori was an Italian multi-purpose character actor.-Biography:Salvatori was born in Seravezza, Province of Lucca....
- Captain Lopez - O.E. HasseO.E. HasseOtto Eduard Hasse was a German film actor and director.- Biography :Hasse was born to Wilhelm Gustav Eduard Hasse, a blacksmith, and Valeria Hasse in the village of Obersitzko, Province of Posen, Imperial Germany and gained his first stage experiences at highschool at Kolmar together with his...
- Carlos Ducas - Jacques WeberJacques WeberJacques Weber is a French actor, director and writer, born in Paris .- Biography :Passionate about drama from his youth, Jacques Weber joined the Conservatoire national supérieur d'art dramatique at the age of 20, and won the prix d'Excellence when he left. He joined Robert Hossein in Reims...
- Hugo - Jean-Luc BideauJean-Luc BideauJean-Luc Bideau is a Swiss film actor. He has appeared in over 125 films since 1965.-Selected filmography:* Les Bons Vivants * Mr...
- Este - Jacques PerrinJacques PerrinJacques Perrin is a French actor and filmmaker. He is occasionally credited as Jacques Simonet. Simonet was his father's name and Perrin his mother's.-Life and career:...
Awards
The film was nominated to the Golden Globes as Best Foreign Language Film and won the UN Award at BAFTA Awards.External links
- État de siège at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Review of the movie by Roger EbertRoger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
- Pages 58-59 TIME Magazine 23 April 1973