The opening image of warplanes flying towards battle is a stark juxtaposition to the beautiful beaches and picturesque hotel where writer/director Alicia Scherson’s Summer War is set. But in 1989 Chile, during the waning moments of Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship, it’s all inextricably linked. Scherson explores the connection in this adaptation of Chilean author Roberto Bolaño’s The Third Reich, her second adaptation of his work.
The film follows American Udo Berger (Dan Beirne) and his girlfriend Ingrid (Lux Pascal) on vacation to a coastal Chilean town. They spend their days by the ocean, basking in the sun, making friends along the way. But Udo’s attention drifts towards a board game he brought on the trip. It’s a tabletop World War II strategy game called Third Reich that he plays competitively, acting out various scenarios of Germany’s occupation of Europe. When one of their new friends goes missing, a shaken Ingrid decides to head home, but Udo opts to stay back under the guise of wanting to help find their missing friend. That’s when he decides to invite El Quemado, a mystery man living on the beach with burn scars across his face, to play his game.
El Quemado (David Gaete) and Udo Berger (Dan Beirne) share a tense moment in Summer War.
“That’s when he decides to invite El Quemado…to play his game.”
The film is an effective character study about a man being so wrapped up in his obsession that it completely blocks out the experiences of the people around him. Scherson cleverly sets the story in her native Chile (the novel takes place in Spain), a country at a crossroads, sensing freedom but still skeptical and scarred by the past. Enter Udo, a privileged white man obsessed with war but completely detached from the realities of it, unlike the locals who surround him. The lead character’s evolution throughout the film is thrilling to watch unfold, both thanks to Scherson’s writing and Beirne’s performance. Udo is undoubtedly unlikable, but hard to take your eyes off. His decisions are frustrating, but his descent into near-madness is fascinating. The diary-like narration that begins at the start of the film turns into a war journal as the game heats up. But Udo doesn’t physically unravel as you expect. If anything, he finds his confidence. He dances in the clubs where he once awkwardly putzed around. He swims in the ocean, which he previously remarked was too cold. He begins a relationship with the hotel’s owner, whom he developed a childhood crush on when he visited the hotel in his youth. Beirne physically transforms the character from a pasty, inelegant loaf to a man with a voracious drive to win.
Scherson directs the film with the confidence and flair of a seasoned auteur. The dazzling, nostalgic color palette washes over us like the waves along the Pacific coast. Iris wipes pull you in and out of scenes, focusing the audience’s attention, while interspersed archival war footage keeps us grounded in the reality of the Chilean plight. The sound design steadily but stealthily reminds us of the occupation, buzzing with planes and helicopters overhead. And music is skillfully used to match Udo’s transformation, breaking into energetic rock music as his reality fractures.
Ultimately, for El Quemado and the Chileans around him, Udo’s Third Reich is bigger than a game. It’s a fight against fascism that they can actually control after being casualties in one they couldn’t. Summer War is an indictment of a culture of apathy created by a never-ending barrage of wars. Scherson shows us the importance of never losing sight of the victims of these battles, often waged by men not too different from Udo.
For screening information, visit the Summer War official website.
"…Scherson directs the film with the confidence and flair of a seasoned auteur..."
