this film is not just about Neruda and his escape from Chile, it is a dialogue between Neruda and the secret police agent who chases him.
This dialogue is fiction, the creation of scriptwriter Guillermo Calderon, but so poetic, that I thought it came from notes by Neruda himself.
A delightful film.
This film looks like a film from the 40's - slightly out of focus but not black and white but in bleached colour. The performances are stilted and unnatural, and the scenes seem to jump abruptly from one to another. Bernal is miscast as as Neruda's nemesis. A much better film which mixes poetry and biography is 'A Quiet Passion'.
I still can't decide whether I like it or not. It's not your usual film. Its a road movie, detective, poetic, suspense - all those and something extra. Well acted at times beautiful. Worth seeing.