It's raining on Santiago: When American CIA writes Chilean history

"It's raining on Santiago" is a powerful and angry piece of political cinema that was released in 1975.

The movie retells the bloody story of the violent overthrow of the democratically elected socialist Chilean government in September 1973 by a CIA-backed coup d'état.

A compelling and moving film, "It's raining on Santiago" is a documentary-like account describing the events of Chili's capital, Santiago, when fascist army general Augusto Pinochet forcibly seized power and overthrew Salvador Allende's leftist rule. This coup disrupted personal liberties and brought and end to Chile's social and economic reforms.

The film emotionally portrays the heroic resistance of different leftist factions from idealistic students to tireless peasants against a conspiracy of corrupt corporate heads, fascist military officials and the CIA.

The film, a French production directed by Helvio Soto, is more a political statement than an accurate historical account. The Chilean army is shown to be responsible for the killing of Allende, a fact that remains to be examined. Nevertheless, the film rightly depicts the torture and the cruel executions of leftist intellectuals, politicians, and artists in the aftermath of the coup by the brutal military rule.

The movie's realistic directing style and the dynamic changing of scenes through time could be a confusing factor but it aids in recreating the shocking mood that swept the city during these devastating events.

Whether or not politically sensitive, no viewer is left untouched by the dramatic events as the film carefully associates between the personal and the political aspects of individuals. Soto chose to end the film with Allende's emotionally-charged powerful speech, the very last speech he gave before he was killed.

"It's raining on Santiago" is a must-see film for its directing style, its impact and its political significance, a rare piece of non-conformist film production.