''Imagining Argentina'' is a 2003

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

historical film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swa ...

written and directed by British playwright Christopher Hampton and starring Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson,

Leticia Dolera Leticia Dolera (born 23 October 1981) is a Spanish actress. She was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. She is best known for her roles as Clara in the Spanish horror film '' REC 3: Genesis'', Teresa in the 2003 film ''Imagining Argentina'', an ...

and

Rubén Blades Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948), known professionally as Rubén Blades (, but in Panama and within the family), is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in th ...

. It is based on the award-winning eponymous 1987 novel by American writer Lawrence Thornton. It was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2003

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

. The film is centered on a couple living through the oppressive last military dictatorship in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

(1976-1983) and the

Dirty War The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 as ...

it conducted. Graphic images of suffering, such as

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

and

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

, are depicted. The closing caption states that a total of nearly 30,000 Argentines were "disappeared" through this period. The film was a joint USA/Argentina/Spain/UK production.

Plot synopsis

During the last civil-military dictatorship in Argentina, the military government conducts what was known as a Dirty War against opponents, abducting and often murdering those opposed to its rule. Cecilia, a

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

living in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, is kidnapped by the

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of ...

to join the ranks of the

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organi ...

. She had earlier published a challenging article in her outrage over the forced disappearance of students protesting the bus fares. As her husband Carlos, a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

director, begins to search frantically for her, he realizes that he has acquired

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws ...

power that enables him to predict the future. Carlos is sought after by others who have lost loved ones. This power helps Carlos foresee what happens to his wife and other

detainee Detention is the process whereby a state or private citizen lawfully holds a person by removing their freedom or liberty at that time. This can be due to (pending) criminal charges preferred against the individual pursuant to a prosecution or t ...

s. At one point, Carlos visits the Naval Mechanics School, revealed as a notorious center of torture and murder of detainees.

Cast

* Antonio Banderas as Carlos Rueda * Emma Thompson as Cecilia Rueda *

as Teresa Rueda, Carlos and Cecilia's daughter * Maria Canals as Esme Palomares *

as Silvio Ayala * Mariana Seligmann as Guzman Tochter *

Irene Escolar Irene Escolar Navarro (born 19 October 1988) is a Spanish cinema, theatre, and television actress. Escolar received a Goya Award for Best New Actress The Goya Award for Best New Actress ( es, Premio Goya a la mejor actriz revelación, links=no ...

as Eurydice * Andreas Tang as himself *

Kuno Becker Eduardo Kuno Becker Paz (born January 14, 1978) professionally known as Kuno Becker, is a Mexican actor and film director who has worked in telenovelas, Mexican cinema, and U.S. cinema. He is best known for his portrayal of Ruben Berrizabal in ...

as Gustavo Santos, a warden *

Anton Lesser Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is an English actor. He is well known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', as Thomas More in ''Wolf Hall'', as Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in ''The Crown'', as Prime Minister ...

as General Guzmán * Marzenka Novak as Sasha

Reception

Review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

gives the film an approval rating of 31% based on reviews from 13 critics, with an average rating of 4.30/10.

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

calculated an average score of 27 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Peter Bradshaw Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''. Early life and education Bradshaw was educated at Haberdasher ...

for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' wrote:

"well, what can I say about something destined to be a cult classic of awfulness? Imagining Argentina is an excruciatingly misjudged attempt to impose a layer of occult spirituality on an important political subject... The spectacle of Banderas exercising his sensitive magic powers, intercut with Thompson getting horribly raped and beaten - with close-ups on her droll, quizzical face contorted in agony - is truly wince-making".

References

External links

Official Site
* * *

(in Dutch) {{Christopher Hampton 2003 films 2003 drama films Dirty War films Films scored by George Fenton Films about Latin American military dictatorships Spanish films based on actual events Films based on American novels Films directed by Christopher Hampton Films shot in Buenos Aires Films shot in Madrid Enforced disappearance American independent films Political drama films British independent films Spanish independent films English-language Spanish films Films shot in Almería 2000s English-language films American films based on actual events British films based on actual events 2000s American films 2000s British films