A One Mann’s Movies review of “Argentina, 1985” (2022).
So, with the Oscar nominations out, the mission has begun to try to fill in as many of the ‘gaps’ in my personal BAFTA and Oscar lists. And “Argentina, 1985”, nominated in both awards for “Best International Film” and a winner at the Golden Globes, is the first of those catch-up watches.
And what a cracking and engrossing watch it is!
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
It’s 1984, and a civil government is in power in Argentina for the first time since the 1930’s. During that time, the military leaders have (allegedly) been responsible for atrocities of kidnapping, murder and rape against the “guerillas” opposed to their fascist regime. “The Missing” runs to thousands of people.
Now the nation’s judges have made a landmark decision to bring a civil prosecution against these leaders, together with the Junta’s president Jorge Rafael Videla (Marcelo Pozzi). There is only one man in the country who can lead the prosecution – Julio Strassera (Ricardo Darín). But with the military opposed to him, this puts both himself, his wife and his teenage children under mortal threat.
Certification:
UK: 18; US: R. (From the BBFC: “Strong language, references to violence and sexual violence”).
Talent:
Starring: Ricardo Darin, Alejandra Flechner, Peter Lanzani, Santiago Armas Estevarena, Paula Ransenberg, Norman Briski.
Directed by: Santiago Mitre.
Written by: Mariano Llinás & Santiago Mitre (with Martín Mauregui).
Twitter Handles: #argentina1985.
Julio Strassera (Ricardo Darin) in the blue suit, with Luis Ocampo (Peter Lanzani) as his right-hand man and surrounded by his young and inexperienced team. (Source: Amazon Studios).
“Argentina 1985” Review:
Positives:
- The script is so tight and intelligent. For those of us not au fait with the details of Argentinian history, it takes a bit of concentration on the subtitles* to follow what’s going on. (* I watched the “Spanish with subtitles” option, but there is an English-dubbed version on Amazon if you prefer). (I also needed to do a bit of googling for one part: the “Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo” were a committed collection of the mothers of “the missing” who as a ‘uniform’ wore their children’s annotated diapers as headscarfs.)
- There are really nice touches by director Santiago Mitre. While Strassera is reading his closing argument, President Videla is casually reading a book, but is progressively distracted as Strassera continues. And Mitre cleverly intercuts real-life footage of the trial into the film, to the extent that you are not quite sure what is acted and what is documentary at some points.
- Ricardo Darin as the world-weary Strassera is superb, reflecting the strain of having the whole country – both lovers and haters – focused on him. He chain-smokes his way through his scenes, with a hang-dog expression and a gallows sense of humour. And there are lots of really nicely scripted relationships between Strassera and the other characters (and a terrific ensemble cast to bring it to life):
- Ruso (Norman Briski) is a former attorney friend with health problems. You are never told the previous relationship between the men, but it is clearly warm and close. “You thought they appointed you to sweep the dance floor” teases Ruso “and now you have to dance!”. The scenes between the two friends allow us, the audience, to get inside Strassera’s head a bit: sometimes his unguarded discussions expose his optimism about the case and at other times, the opposite.
- The relationship with his wife Silvia (Alejandra Flechner) is warm and natural. She is his emotional rock and support and some of these scenes – one on their apartment balcony for example – I found genuinely touching.
- While we’re talking about his family, the teenage kids Susana (Paula Ransenberg) and Javier (Santiago Armas Estevarena) also do a great acting job, and the whole family feels REAL!
- Luis Ocampo (Peter Lanzani) is a beautifully realised character as Strassera’s deputy. With a strong military background, he has more to lose than anyone. His skills nicely counterpoint Strassera’s: while Strassera is focused on the process, Ocampo is actively aware of the importance of marketing to the public perception.
- With death threats a plenty, Strassera can’t get qualified legal professionals to join him on his quest. So he gathers a bunch of keen young legal students around him, and this adds a lot of pep and life to the movie. Scenes where the young people travel the country in search of witnesses are wonderful.
- I found the soundtrack, by Spaniard Pedro Osuna, to be excellent with some persistent repetitive beats that ramp up the tension at key moments. Some of the little riffs were reminiscent to me of the John Williams soundtrack for “Catch Me If You Can”. I also noted that Michael Giacchino got a credit for producing the music.
Negatives:
- Occasionally, the script skimps on some important information. For example, there’s a car bomb that goes off but there’s no indication as to who was the target or whether there was anyone in the car. And it’s not very clear how Ocampo gets assigned to work with Strassera: did he volunteer?
- Once again, we have an awards film that is looooooongg. It’s 140 minutes, so not quite up to the bladder-busting extremes of “Babylon“. Could it have had a nip and tuck here or there? Yes, I think so.
“Monkey”?
There’s not a proper “monkey” per se. But as is common in this type of ‘true-life’ film, pictures of the actual people involved and of the trial itself are shown over the start of the end-titles.
Summary Thoughts on “Argentina, 1985”
As a Brit, we have a bit of an interesting relationship with Argentina, thanks to the Falklands “conflict” in 1982. (“Conflict” as in “Special Military Operation” if you are a gullible Russian). I remember well being on a business trip in Buenos Aires for IBM in the 90’s and a local very deliberately sat next to me in a meeting, opened his notebook and revealed a half page sticker with “Free the Malvinas” on it! #uncomfortable. The Falklands War was just 3 years before the setting of this film, and interestingly General Galtieri, a name well-known to Brits of my age, is one of the characters on trial.
Given the number and range of nominations, I’d rather assumed that “All Quiet on the Western Front” would be a shoo-in for the International Film Oscar. But after seeing this film, I’m not so sure. This could be an interesting category after all.
In summary, this is a really great courtroom drama, and highly recommended (particularly as it is free to Stream, if you have Amazon Prime). The crazy thing is that a huge number of people went to see, and enjoy, Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7” but will likely be put off because it is a “foreign language” film. You really shouldn’t! It’s an excellent and educational watch.
Trailer for “Argentina, 1985”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4iiyPOM6rA .
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