Chilean exiles in Paris are shown discussing the challenges they faced following the 1973 Chilean coup d'état. In an attempt to reeducate a touring singer from their homeland, they kidnap him. This marks Ruiz's debut French film, in which he examines the mannerisms and language used by his fellow exiles. Having been a member of this community, he depicts a shared sense of belonging among those living in exile, brought together by the tragic downfall of the Allende government and the brutality of the Pinochet dictatorship.[2]
Dialogues of Exiles ultimately led to Ruiz's ostracism from the Chilean exile community due to its critical and, at times, unfriendly portrayal of them. Ruiz's depiction of the exiles is laced with scathing humor, and many complained that he had trivialized serious issues such as adaptation, language, space, integration, and cultural shock. Despite the backlash, he continued to explore themes of Chilean identity, dictatorship, and exile in his films.[3]
Bibliography
Pick, Zuzana M. (1987). "Chilean Cinema in Exile (1973-1986): The notion of exile: a field of investigation and its conceptual framework". Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media (34): 39–57. JSTOR44111135. ProQuest1311780721.
Blaine, Patrick. "Reconstructing Resistant Memory in the Chilean Social Documentary: Guzmán and Ruiz." Morningside College. Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Toronto, Canada. 2010
Goddard, Michael (2013). "Impossible cartographies: approaching Raúl Ruiz's cinema". Em Questão. 19 (1). Porto Alegre: 21–41. ProQuest1528422386.
^Blaine, Patrick. "Reconstructing Resistant Memory in the Chilean Social Documentary: Guzmán and Ruiz." Morningside College. Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Toronto, Canada. 2010.
