The Battle of Chile began as a boldly spontaneous attempt to comprehensively document Allende’s truly revolutionary experiment in social justice in its formative stages. Using film stock provided by Chris Marker, a thirty-one year old Guzmán, fresh out of film school in Madrid, led a team of cameramen into the streets of Santiago and outlaying towns to capture the different sides forming staunchly for and increasingly against the visionary leader. The first part of Guzmán’s epic chronicle focuses not on Allende or his progressive government, but rather on the vehement middle class resistance to Allende’s program that would eventually empower and inspire the military uprising. Working with his talented cinematographers, Guzmán’s crafted a mesmerizing verité account of Allende’s fall that is energized by the many voices of Chilean citizens rendered vivid on film. Offering singular insight into the disintegration of Allende’s regime The Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie is also one of the most riveting documentary accounts of history in the making. – HG