The Judge and the General

In 1998, Guzmán was randomly selected by judicial lottery to preside over the first criminal cases against former dictator Augusto Pinochet. This lottery system is how Chilean judges are assigned to high-profile cases, and it thrust Guzmán into a role he never expected, investigating the very dictatorship he had once passively served as a court clerk.

The lottery selection echoes the film's opening, where Guzmán watches Pinochet's funeral with visible anguish, establishing the personal stakes of this assignment.

Manuel Donoso was a young sociology professor arrested, tortured, and killed in the chaotic months following the 1973 coup. The documentary follows Guzmán's investigation into his death, including the disinterment of his remains and testimony from his widow about the brutality he endured. His case became emblematic of the systematic repression that targeted intellectuals and political opponents.

The Donoso case was one of the first investigations Guzmán pursued after being assigned to the Pinochet case in 1998.

The 'good German' label refers to Guzmán's role as a judge who remained blind to the crimes happening around him during the Pinochet regime. Like the 'good Germans' who claimed ignorance of Nazi atrocities, Guzmán contributed to the system by denying thousands of habeas corpus petitions without questioning the atrocities they concealed. The documentary uses this comparison to highlight how ordinary people can become complicit through institutional participation.

This critique sets up Guzmán's later realization that his investigation 'opened the eyes of my soul.'

As a young clerk in the Court of Appeals during the 1970s, Guzmán wrote denials for thousands of habeas corpus petitions filed on behalf of disappeared victims. He passively contributed to the judicial machinery that refused to acknowledge the kidnappings and killings, effectively helping to cover up crimes. This past haunts him throughout the documentary as he investigates the very regime he once served.

The film contrasts his past denials with his present-day willingness to pursue indictment against Pinochet.

The Cecilia (Chechi) Castro case centers on her mother Edita, who faced an impossible choice during the dictatorship: reveal her granddaughter's hiding place to the secret police or watch her own daughter be tortured and killed. Edita chose to sacrifice the granddaughter to save her daughter, a decision that haunts the family decades later. Guzmán and investigators pursue this case, traveling to offshore locations and even conducting underwater searches to uncover the truth.

The underwater search near the Chilean coast directly relates to this case, as divers searched for remains tied to weights and thrown into the ocean.

Underwater cameras captured divers recovering rails that had been tied to the bodies of political prisoners before they were thrown into the ocean. This chilling footage provided concrete, visceral proof of the regime's method of disposing of disappeared victims. The discovery strengthened Guzmán's resolve and challenged any remaining denial about the dictatorship's crimes.

The underwater search was part of the Cecilia Castro investigation, connecting the personal case to broader patterns of repression.

The film opens with Guzmán watching Pinochet's funeral in Santiago in December 2006, where supporters taunted opponents with chants referencing the era's killings and abuses. This public display of lingering support for the dictator triggers Guzmán's flashbacks to the 1973 coup and the atmosphere of repression. The funeral forces him to confront the unresolved nature of Chile's historical reckoning and fuels his decision to pursue the investigations.

The funeral scene sets up the entire narrative, establishing Guzmán's personal stake in pursuing justice.

Guzmán describes his transformation as 'opening the eyes of my soul.' The process of investigating Pinochet's crimes forced him to confront his own blindness during the dictatorship and his role in denying habeas corpus petitions. This personal awakening became as significant as the legal proceedings themselves, showing how the pursuit of justice transformed not just the accused but the investigator.

This transformation directly connects to his earlier role as the 'good German' who refused to see what was happening around him.

Habeas corpus petitions were legal requests filed by families seeking to learn the whereabouts of loved ones who had been kidnapped by the regime. As a court clerk, Guzmán wrote denials for thousands of these petitions, effectively blocking any judicial inquiry into disappearances. The documentary shows this as a key mechanism by which the judicial system helped conceal the dictatorship's crimes.

The film contrasts Guzmán's past denial of these petitions with his present-day pursuit of the very cases they sought to investigate.

The documentary leaves the question of whether Pinochet was ultimately indicted deliberately unresolved. It shows colleagues and attorneys doubting Guzmán's competence and willingness to pursue the case, building tension around whether the indictments would come. The film concludes with viewers left to decide whether Guzmán's pursuit justifies the earlier doubts, maintaining an ambiguous ending about the legal outcome.

This ambiguity reflects the broader unresolved nature of Chile's historical reckoning that the film explores.

The documentary weaves together the Manuel Donoso case and the Cecilia Castro case to show how Guzmán's investigations widened from a single victim to reveal broader patterns of repression. Donoso's case demonstrates how intellectuals were targeted after the coup, while the Castro case reveals how the regime hunted entire families. Together, they create a tapestry showing the systematic nature of the crimes rather than isolated incidents.

Both cases ultimately connect to the underwater evidence search, demonstrating the regime's coordinated method of making victims disappear.

Guzmán examined murder and kidnapping charges against Pinochet as part of the first criminal cases brought against the former dictator. The investigations focused on the deaths of specific victims like Manuel Donoso and the disappearances connected to the Castro case, using the evidence gathered to build charges that could hold Pinochet accountable for crimes committed during his rule.

The evidence gathered from the Donoso and Castro cases directly fed into these broader charges against Pinochet.