''Caliche sangriento'' (i.e. ''Bloody Nitrate'') is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an movie of 1969 and the first one directed by

Helvio Soto Helvio Soto (1930–2001) was a Chilean filmmaker. Featured filmography * ''Caliche sangriento'' (1969) * ''Voto + fusil'' (1971) * ''Il pleut sur Santiago It's Raining on Santiago (french: Il pleut sur Santiago) is a 1975 French-Bulgarian drama ...

. The plot takes place in 1879 through 1880 during the War of the Pacific, when Chile, Bolivia and Peru fought over control of the

sodium nitrate Sodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Chile saltpeter (large deposits of which were historically mined in Chile) to distinguish it from ordinary saltpeter, potassium nitrate. T ...

deposits in the Atacama desert. The film decries the cruelty and absurdity of war and the disunity among the peoples of Latin America. The style of the movie has been compared to that of Western and

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

movies.

Plot

A group of 17 Chilean soldiers is marching through the baking hot desert, led by a captain who demands rigid discipline. One at a time, the men fall victim to the overwhelming drudgery and engagements with

irregular troops Irregular military is any non-standard military component that is distinct from a country's national armed forces. Being defined by exclusion, there is significant variance in what comes under the term. It can refer to the type of military orga ...

Release

The film was initially rejected by the Chilean Censorship Board but was later passed after it was cut by the producer, without consulting Soto, to remove: * a credit thanking the army for their collaboration and advice * an announcement at the end of the film stating that 25,000 soldiers died so that foreign economic interests could take over the nitrate fields. The Censorship Board also added a disclaimer to the ratings card that appeared before showings to state: "Approval of this film does not imply acceptance of the facts as depicted therein or their fidelity, nor does it imply agreement with their interpretation of historical events."

References

External links

*
Website reporting about the current film restoration project
(Spanish) 1969 films 1960s war drama films Films set in the 1870s War of the Pacific Saltpeter works in Chile Chilean drama films {{war-drama-film-stub