State of Siege

State of Siege (1972)

État de siège

Any resemblance to actual events or to anyone living or dead is not accidental.

Assigned to South America, US official Philip Michael Santore is employed by a counterinsurgency agency. His position makes him a target for a local band of guerrillas, and, before long, Santore is kidnapped. As a prisoner, he undergoes interrogation, shedding light on the violent situation in the country. Once the insurgents are done with their questioning, they must decide whether Santore lives or dies.

Date of release
1972-12-30
TMDB
7.2 / 10 (122)
Runtime
2h 2m
Genres
Thriller, Drama
Director
Costa-Gavras

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Box office: $8M
  • Filmed in: Chile
  • Awards: 2 · Nominations: 0. Including: Louis Delluc Prize; British Academy Film Awards

State of Siege is a 1972 French–Italian–West German political thriller film directed by Costa-Gavras starring Yves Montand and Renato Salvatori. The story is based on the kidnapping and killing of Dan Mitrione, a USAID official, by Uruguayan Tupamaros in 1970.

Production

Though the setting of State of Siege is never explicitly named, signages throughout the film refer to Montevideo, and the Tupamaros are mentioned by name. Costa-Gavras, living in Paris at the time and preparing his film The Confession, had learned of Mitrione's case in French newspaper Le Monde and decided to make further investigations in Uruguay himself, accompanied by screenwriter Franco Solinas (The Battle of Algiers).

The role of the government's president is played by Chilean painter Nemesio Antúnez.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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