State of Siege (1973)

Review by All Movie Guide
Costa-Gavras' re-creation of the true story of the interrogation of a CIA case officer by unnamed urban revolutionaries based on the Tupamoros of Uruguay is an unsettling political thriller. Urban guerrillas kidnap a CIA agent (Yves Montand) who has been training the country's police in sophisticated counter-insurgency and torture techniques while under shallow cover. Shot in Chile with the approval of President Allende shortly before his untimely assassination, the film was the first to detail the uglier side of the kind of paramilitary training that the U.S. has often performed for its authoritarian allies. But, after numerous subsequent revelations about torture training in the U.S. and abroad, the film seems less shocking than it did at the time. Nonetheless, the film's early sequences are gripping, as the bewildered official is called to account for his actions. As the questioning wears on, however, the film becomes as repetitious as a piece of agitprop, more a righteous cri de coeur than a subtle analysis of political oppression. Montand, who had earlier played a heroic Greek politician in Costa-Gavras' Z, is effective here. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide