On September 11, 1973, President Salvador Allende’s democratically-elected Chilean government was overthrown in a bloody coup by General Augusto Pinochet’s army.

Patricio Guzmán and five colleagues had been filming the political developments in Chile throughout the nine months leading up to that day. The bombing of the Presidential Palace, during which Allende died, would now become the ending for Guzman’s seminal documentary The Battle of Chile, an epic chronicle of that country’s open and peaceful socialist revolution, and of the violent counter-revolution against it.

Now restored, The Village Voice called it, “The major political film of our time,” and the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “A landmark in the presentation of living history on film.”

Also included is Guzmán’s debut feature, The First Year (El primer año), which chronicles the jubilant 12 months following the election of Allende. These two films provide an invaluable opportunity to witness the genesis of Guzmán’s body of work and to gain insight into a critical period in Chilean history.

For thoughts on The Battle of Chile, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required:

Video Quality

The Battle of Chile debuts on Blu-Ray courtesy of Icarus Films with a digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer in the original aspect ratio that is derived from a brand new 2K restoration digitally restored by the CNC in France. This is a tremendous transfer that eliminates any major blemishes while still working within the limitations of the source. This footage was captured over 50 years ago with filming conditions that often can be described as chaotic. The image quality can appear quite varied from scene to scene due to how it was captured, but it looks the best you could ever expect it to be. When you consider the age of the film and the condition of the source material, it is pleasing to see the material looking so strong.

The transfer maintains remarkable film grain support throughout with nothing looking unnatural and no major instances of spiking or swarming. Since the massive film is split over two discs, there does not appear to be any issues with compression artifacts or any other such digital anomalies. At its best, you do see some fine detail in the clothing of the subjects and in some of the background elements such as remnants of unrest. The black-and-white photography provides an admirable stability within the contrast. This presentation does a stellar job of giving life to this moment in history.

Audio Quality

The new Blu-Ray is presented with a newly restored DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track in the original Spanish and French with optional English subtitles. As with the video, this supports the material as well as the source will allow. The man-on-the-street interviews are a large portion of the first installment, and they mostly meet a pleasing standard considering the conditions of capturing these subjects. Some of the information can become a bit muddled due to some of the limitations of the equipment or a unique cadence, but considering most will be relying on the subtitles there is not much to object to. There are a couple of moments where there is a fluctuation in the audio that seems to stem from damage to the source material, but these are very brief and not an overwhelming issue. Considering the limitations in place in the course of this restoration, the results are a win for cinephiles.

Special Features

The First Year: The 96-minute precursor to The Battle of Chile is included with a restoration of similar quality as the main feature with DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio.

Patricio Guzmán Biography: A single-page text biography of the filmmaker is available on the second disc.

Trailers: There are trailers for other Icarus Films releases including Nostalgia For The Light and The Cordillera of Dreams.

Booklet: There is a multi-page booklet included that features articles from The New York Times and The Village Voice from 2023.

Final Thoughts

The Battle of Chile is a monumental piece of filmmaking that will chill you to the bone even if you do not consider yourself a fan of historical documentaries. The film depicts an uprising from 50 years ago, but the lessons one can take from the experience make this more relevant than ever. Through this visceral footage, you can see the tenuous nature of progress and the signs that should not be ignored when there is unrest brewing. This is a long journey, but it is so hypnotizing that it will go by in a blink. Icarus Films has released a Blu-Ray featuring a fantastic A/V presentation and an additional feature film to fully contextualize the arc of events. If you are a fan of the art of documentary filmmaking, there is no reason not to have this on your shelf. Recommended

The Battle of Chile is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Limited Edition Slipcover exclusively through Vinegar Syndrome.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Icarus Films and OCN Distribution have supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.