| Cast
and Crew: |
Irene Escolar, Fernando Tielve,
Hector Bordoni, Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson, Maria Canals,
Rubén Blades, Leticia Dolera
|
| The
Review: |
Imagining Argentina applies the
word disappear in a factual manner, the way it was used by
the military government between 1976 and 1983. The word disappear,
opposite of appear, has a direct link with what is removed
out of sight and no longer can be noticed. Disappear in this
film refers to the disappearance of several thousand people
during the juntas control of Argentina, which they blamed
on extremists and terrorists while denying all involvement
themselves. Nonetheless, the disappearances begun shortly
after the military had gained control in 1976. ***
A brief historical background can
help the audience get a grasp of the situation in Imagining
Argentina, which takes place during the junta’s control. After
the military coup in 1976 when María Perón was tossed out
of office, the military government began to keep track of
those who opposed them. It led to eight petrifying years,
as the megalomaniac military leader Videla and his allies
pursued all opposition through state funded terrorism, which
often meant rape and murder. Many of those who opposed the
government ended up in concentration camps where the “disappeared”
people faced gruesome torture and other inhuman acts of violence.
Imagining Argentina takes place amidst these dark years of
the military governments intimidating steel grip of the Argentinean
population through frequently disappearing individuals. ***
The film opens on a theater stage
where Orpheus’ wife disappears forever after having acted
on an instantaneous impulse to look back at her. Symbolically,
the scene with Orpheus prompts the audience to ponder the
ambiguous concept of looking back, which suggests several
different ideas such as the pain of the past, the healing
power of remembrance, and the wisdom of memories. The film
deals with several of these concepts throughout the film,
as it follows the theater director Carlos Rueda (Antonio Banderas)
after his wife and journalist, Cecilia (Emma Thompson), “disappears”.
Through another disappearance of one of his young actors’
father, Carlos recognizes that he has a unique gift that helps
him see the “disappeared” and their fate. Carlos is clairvoyant.
***
Initially, clairvoyance seems a
little insensitive in regards to the tragedy of the not so
distant past. However, the clairvoyance provides an interesting
angle on the historical dark period of Argentina, as the military
government later sought to forget the time of the disappearances.
It also offers the characters a view into the junta’s secretive
kidnappings and hideous crimes to which the government denied
any involvement. Even the Amnesty International and other
countries questioned the disappearances, but without any result
until after 1983. It was after 1983, the junta was trying
to brush it under the carpet, but remembrance would help the
people keep their memories of the disappeared alive while
the remembering continues to help prevent similar events from
happening again. Thus, looking beyond the discomfort of knowing
the fate of Carlos’ family, and understand the symbolical
meaning of clairvoyance the film presents an important film
that reveals that the events of the Nazi concentration camps
repeated itself in history some 30 years later. ***
Alicia Partnov (who is not a character
in the film, but a real person) was one of those who “disappeared”,
and she tells her story in the biographical novel The Little
School. Another person is the human rights activist Adolfo
Pérez Esquivel (another real person) who received the Nobel
peace prize for his humanitarian efforts and spending 14 months
in one of these concentration camps. It is through creative
works such as Imagining Argentina that these survivors can
spread the words of the horrors and crimes committed in the
world. The theater within the film also provides the notion
that fantasy and imagination present an opportunity to help
prevent such awful terror, as it pleads through its emotional
and contextual content for the audience to understand the
pain and agony of those who disappeared. The performance by
the whole cast is very good while Emma Thompson elevates the
cinematic experience in one scene where she screams without
uttering a single sound. The scene is tragically disturbing
while the pain and agony of Cecilia is very real, and this
performance is another reason why creativity can help teach
valuable lessons about our past that we should not forget.
***
Thus, at the end of 1983, the Argentinean
junta had applied the term “disappear” to some 30,000 people,
which left the Argentinean people with a deep national scar
that should not be forgotten. *** ---
|
