Costa-Gavras’s first American film presents a compelling and infuriating portrait of a government exerting its own needs over the individuals it is sworn to protect. At the same time, it also gives us a bittersweet depiction of a father coming to know his son only after he has lost him. When the film was released in early 1982, its speculation about U.S. involvement in the execution of American writer Charlie Horman during the 1973 CIA-backed coup in Chile was just that, which aroused no end of controversy. In the two decades since, files have been declassified that all but prove the government’s complicity, which vindicates this important film’s strong accusations and moral stance, making it all the more galling—and crucial—to watch, especially in light of current events. (DVD)