Imagining Argentina (2003)

Imagining Argentina (2003)

Taglines: An extraordinary story of love, compassion and danger.

Heard about the green Ford Falcons of Buenos Aires? Death mobiles they was called and were doing the same dirty job for president Videla and a string of junta generals, in the 1970s mimicking their highly successful colleague dictator Pinochet across the border in Chile. Kids protesting against expensive school bus fares could be taken for a ride and never seen again.

Disappearances, desaparecidos, was the name of the game and seems to the mayor training for the brave military men crushing the enemies of Argentina in their dirty war against opposition during the late 1970s and early 80s. Performing roughly 40 000 desaparecidos until they met real soldiers on the Falklands in 1982 and was beaten to pulp in a few days by the British. The military rule was toppled but their henchmen have to this day not even been brought to justice.

Only leaving a trail of wailing crazy mothers circling the famous Plaza de Mayo Square in central Buenos Aires, flashing large pictures of their murdered sons and daughters. A pity Imagining Argentina is such bomb telling the story. Costa-Gavras took less than a decade to make Missing, to give us a fair shot of what Pinochets CIA-backed bloodstained fascist coup in Chile was all about. A heck of a better job than this quarter of a century late badly told yarn.

While Jack Lemon tormented the American ambassador on site to find his missing son in Santiago and actually had the bastard to admit that eggs had to be broken in order to save dear American investments down here on their backyard clairvoyant Banderas use voodoo to figure out the whereabouts of his vanished wife (and later on his already lifeless daughter).

Imagining Argentina is a 2003 drama historical film written and directed by Christopher Hampton and starring Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson, Leticia Dolera and Rubén Blades. It is based on the award-winning homonymous novel by Lawrence Thornton. It was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2003 Venice Film Festival.

The film, centered on a couple living through the ominous last military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983), depicts graphic images of suffering, such as rape and torture. The closing caption states that around 30,000 Argentines disappeared during the beginning and end of the regime.

Imagining Argentina Movie Poster (2003)

Imagining Argentina (2003)

Directed by: Christopher Hampton
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson, Leticia Dolera, Maria Canals, Rubén Blades, Leticia Dolera, Anthony Diaz-Perez, Luis Antonio Ramos, Carlos Kaniowsky
Screenplay by: Christopher Hampton
Production Design by: Bárbara Pérez-Solero
Cinematography by: Guillermo Navarro
Film Editing by: George Akers
Costume Design by: Bina Daigeler
Music by: George Fenton
MPAA Rating: R for violence/torture and brief language.
Distributed by: Arenas Entertainment (USA), Manga Films (Spain), United International Pictures (UIP) (Argentina)
Release Date: September 12, 2003

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