El Caracazo

El Caracazo is 2005 Venezuelan historical film that deals with the events of El Caracazo, the name given to a series of riots and lootings in and around Caracas on 27 February 1989. The film was produced and directed by the veteran Venezuelan filmmaker Román Chalbaud. It is a documentary drama, not only about the titular tragedy but also putting it in historical perspective. The film cost 3 billion bolívares (approximately US $1 130 500 at the time), provided by the Ministry of Culture. Story and narrative The film opens in August 2002, when the activist Simon Petrov is reading the declaration from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that ordered the Venezuelan government to compensate the families of those murdered in the riot that changed the nation, el Caracazo of 27 February 1989. Everyone at the meeting then recalls the tragic event, the film built around stories told to camera by actors and the real people, and images of the violence. The film is largely told from the perspective of a broken family; Mara and her daughter Alejandra in the present, a pregnant Mara and her fiance Alejandro in the past, who is killed in El Caracazo. Told in two intersecting narratives — the washed out memories and the brightly coloured facts — the story also reflects on the political situation of the time, and the repercussions still affecting the country in the present. Not only do the characters seem insecure of their memories from both before and during el Caracazo, the film was released in 2005 and so the Venezuelan audience were acutely aware that the number of deaths was never fully counted and that their government never faced punishment or awarded the ordered compensation, leading reviews to call the film timely and necessary to keep the memory alive. Frédérique Langue also mentioned in a 2006 article that the film contains hints at a "known national reality" and some "very specific references", including allusions to the rise of Hugo Chávez in the intervening years. She then adds that it would be unlikely the film could be successful outside of Venezuela due to this. Production The film was shot as a documentary, and though, as in many documentaries, some of the interviews and scenes were "staged", these were still inspired by the peoples' real experiences and emotions. However, at least one source has referred to the film as "a fictional look back to [el Caracazo]".