Costa-Gavras on Political Filmmaking
June 02, 2015
Film Info
- United States
- 1982
- 122 minutes
- Color
- 1.85:1
- English
- Spine #449
Missing is political filmmaker extraordinaire Costa-Gavras’s compelling, controversial dramatization of the search for American filmmaker and journalist Charles Horman, who mysteriously disappeared during the 1973 coup in Chile. Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek give magnetic, emotionally commanding performances as Charles’s father and wife, who are led by U.S. embassy and consulate officials through a series of bureaucratic dead-ends before eventually uncovering the terrifying facts about Charles’s fate and disillusioning truths about their government. Written and directed with clarity and conscience, the Academy Award–winning Missing is a testament to Costa-Gavras’s daring.
Cast
| Beth Horman | Sissy Spacek |
| Ed Horman | Jack Lemmon |
| Terry Simon | Melanie Mayron |
| Charles Horman | John Shea |
| Ray Tower | Charles Cioffi |
| Phil Putnam | David Clennon |
| U.S. Ambassador | Richard Venture |
| Colonel Sean Patrick | Jerry Hardin |
| Andrew Babcock | Richard Bradford |
| Frank Teruggi | Joe Regalbuto |
| David Holloway | Keith Szarabajka |
| Kate Newman | Janice Rule |
Credits
| Director | Costa-Gavras |
| Producer | Edward Lewis and Mildred Lewis |
| Screenplay | Costa-Gavras, Donald Stewart and John Nichols |
| Based on the book by | Thomas Hauser |
| Executive producers | Peter Guber and Jon Peters |
| Cinematography | Ricardo Aronovich |
| Production design | Peter Jamison |
| Editing | Françoise Bonnot |
| Costume design | Joe I. Tompkins |
| Casting | Wally Nicita |
| Music | Vangelis |
| Special visual effects | Albert Whitlock |
Disc Features
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:
- Restored high-definition digital transfer
- Video interviews with Costa-Gavras, Joyce Horman (wife of Charles Horman), producers Edward and Mildred Lewis and Sean Daniel, and Thomas Hauser, author of The Execution of Charles Horman, the film’s source
- Video interviews from the 1982 Cannes Film Festival with Costa-Gavras, Jack Lemmon, Ed Horman (father of Charles), and Joyce Horman
- Video interview with Peter Kornbluh, author of The Pinochet File, examining declassified documents concerning the 1973 military coup in Chile and the case of Charles Horman
- Highlights from the 2002 Charles Horman Truth Project event honoring Missing, with actors Sissy Spacek, John Shea, and Melanie Mayron, among others
- Theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Michael Wood, an open letter from Horman family friend Terry Simon, an interview with Costa-Gavras, and the U.S. State Department’s official response to Missing
New cover by Neil Kellerhouse
Current Posts
Interviews
Photo Galleries
Photo Galleries
Film Essays
Missing: “Who Would Care About Us If We Disappeared?”
By October 20, 2008
The films of Constantin Costa-Gavras are often described as political thrillers, and the phrase is helpful as long as we pause over it a little. There is always a strongly personal element to . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Missing: “Who Would Care About Us If We Disappeared?”
By October 20, 2008
The films of Constantin Costa-Gavras are often described as political thrillers, and the phrase is helpful as long as we pause over it a little. There is always a strongly personal element to . . . Read more »
Interviews
Photo Galleries
Photo Galleries
Clippings
RENDEZVOUS WITH Costa-Gavras
March 10, 2009
“All movies are political,” the indefatigable Costa-Gavras told Leonard Lopate last week while stopping by his WNYC radio show. As busy and vital as ever, the seventy-six-year-old Greek . . . Read more »
Press Notes
Press Notes: Tuesday Heartbreak—Missing
October 27, 2008
“Greek director Costa-Gavras is like Oliver Stone with subtlety,” declares Chris Nashawaty in his Entertainment Weekly review of Missing. More than two decades have passed since Costa-Gavras’s . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Missing: “Who Would Care About Us If We Disappeared?”
By October 20, 2008
The films of Constantin Costa-Gavras are often described as political thrillers, and the phrase is helpful as long as we pause over it a little. There is always a strongly personal element to . . . Read more »
