Missing [Movie] – Carl Vonderau

It has been many years since I saw this great movie directed by Costa-Gavras and starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek. It was made in 1982 and is based on a book portrayal of a real-life incident. The book is The Execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice. Charles disappeared in Chile in 1973 shortly after a coup removed Salvador Allende and installed General Augusto Pinochet in power. His father, Edward Horman, and his wife searched for him in Santiago and were stonewalled and lied to by the U.S. Embassy and the Chilean government. The movie also portrays how a conservative businessman father grows to appreciate the politics and goals of his wayward son and his daughter-in-law.

The real-life Horman sued the U.S. government, but his law suit was dismissed. The former U.S. ambassador to Chile also sued Costa-Gavras, the director. The ambassador claimed to never have had knowledge of the execution of Horman’s son. But subsequent research showed they may have been aware of it. The film claims that Edward’s son discovered U.S. involvement in the coup when his son was at Viña del Mar, but that has never been proven.

Particularly the last half is heart-wrenching with great performances by Lemmon and Spacek. Neither actor won an Academy award but, particularly Lemon, deserved it. I was quite moved by it and recommend the film.

I think the film is timely because it shows how quickly a dictatorship can become brutal. Chile was a fairly sophisticated country before the coup. But once the generals took over, they executed thousands of supposed communists.

I also identified with how Christian Science was portrayed. Horman was a Christian Scientist and, in the film, goes to a Christian Science Reading Room in Santiago. He never drinks alcohol and only a Coke while his daughter-in-law has a glass of wine. Asked by a driver what he believes in, he says he has faith in Truth. As a former Christian Scientist, these touches all rang true. It must have been devastating for an engineer who fervently believed in the perfection of God’s Truth to experience the prevarication and obfuscation of his government. And then to find out that his son was executed for no reason.

My research shows that the real Edward Horman subsequently dedicated his life to promoting human rights and never publicly renounced his his religion. His daughter-in-law, Joyce Horman (in the film her name is Beth Horman), still speaks and advocates for human rights. She never remarried or had children.

I traveled through Chile in 1976. The coup had taken place 3 years earlier and Pinochet was still in power. People were still afraid. I remember when I was in the town of Tacna in Northern Chile. I went with an Argentine couple to a church because we’d heard you could sleep there. The church was closed so we slept in a small park. A policeman roused us and I was afraid we would be arrested and thrown into a terrible prison. The policeman only wanted to make sure we were okay.