''Secret Wedding'' () is a 1989 Spanish-language drama film directed by

Alejandro Agresti Alejandro Agresti (born June 2, 1961, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine film director, writer and producer. A prominent filmmaker in his country, he also directed ''The Lake House (film), The Lake House'' with Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood acto ...

. The film received the

Golden Calf for Best Feature Film The following is a list of winners of the Golden Calf for best long feature film at the NFF. Trivia * 15 former "best feature film"-winners were the Dutch submission for the Academy Award for Best International Film, including Oscar-nominee ...

award at the 1989

Netherlands Film Festival The Netherlands Film Festival () is an annual film festival, held in September and October of each year in the city of Utrecht. During the ten-day festival, Dutch film productions and co-productions are exhibited. Besides feature films, the prog ...

. The film was initially screened exclusively in specific film clubs in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

as part of retrospectives dedicated to the director. However, in June 2004, ''Secret Wedding'' was nationally broadcast for the first time on Canal 7. Agresti frequently explores themes related to the Argentine dictatorship, which took place between March 1976 and December 1983, and the devastating social, political, and cultural consequences it had on the Argentine population. These themes are evident in his other works, such as ''Todos quieren ayudar a Ernesto'' (1991), where disappeared individuals reappear in long-distance phone calls, ''El viento se llevó lo que'' (1998), which depicts a peculiar town with intermittent communication due to censored films, and ''

Buenos Aires Vice Versa ''Buenos Aires Vice Versa'' () is a 1996 Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connec ...

'' (1994), where former torturers blend in as security personnel in shopping malls. ''Secret Wedding'' is a co-production between Argentina, Canada, and the Netherlands, with Alejandro Agresti directing based on his own screenplay. It was released in Canada on August 18, 1989, but never had a commercial release in Argentina. The film stars Floria Bloise, Mirta Busnelli, Tito Haas, and Elio Marchi.

Plot

The police detain a naked man who is wandering aimlessly outside the subway terminal in

. After taking him to the police station, it is discovered that there is no record of him for the past 12 years. The only memory he retains is of his girlfriend, whom he left in his hometown all those years ago. Upon his release, he decides to travel back to his hometown. To his astonishment, he discovers his girlfriend, Tota (Mirta Busnelli), who fails to recognize him and is grappling with severe emotional issues since losing contact with her boyfriend. In an attempt to be close to her, Fermín (Tito Haas) chooses to stay near her as a friend. As he unravels his own forgotten past, Fermín begins reliving the oppressive circumstances of the town, exacerbated by the political machinations of the local priest (Nathan Pinzón). Unbeknownst to him, Fermín becomes embroiled in a similar struggle against the forces that caused his disappearance in the 1970s.

Cast

Floria Bloise Floria may refer to: * Floria, a village in Crete, Greece * MS ''Floria'', a former Finnish ferry * Floria Capsali (1900–1982), an Ottoman-born Romanian ballerina and choreographer * '' Floria (coral)'' , an extinct, valid genus of hexacoral in ...

as Doña Patricia *

Mirta Busnelli Mirta Busnelli (born January 13, 1946) is an Argentine actress. Awards Nominations * 2013 Martín Fierro Awards ** Best secondary actress (for ''Los vecinos en guerra ''Los vecinos en guerra'' (), also stylized as ''Vecinos en guerra'', is ...

as Tota *

Tito Haas Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

as Fermín *

Elio Marchi Elio is an Italian male given name. Origin A name of dual origin, Elio is primarily a revival of (Helios), the Greek god of the Sun. derives, through the Latin , from the Ancient Greek (), which is taken from the noun of the same and means ...

as Leandro *

Enrique Morales Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk (Du ...

Nathán Pinzón Nathán Pinzón (27 February 1917 – 15 August 1993) was an Argentine actor. He starred in the 1962 film ''Una Jaula no tiene secretos''. Selected filmography * '' Santos Vega'' (1936) * ''Juan Moreira'' (1948) * '' Passport to Rio'' (1948) ...

as Pastor * Sergio Poves Campos as Pipi *

Carlos Roffé Carlos Roffé (1 August 1943 – 31 December 2005) was an Argentine film and television actor active between 1969 and 2005.Carlos Rof ...

as Merello * Ernesto Ciliberti *

Susana Cortínez Susana may refer to: *Jarlín Susana (born 2004), Dominican baseball player *Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), a network of organizations active in the field of sustainable sanitation *Susana (given name), a feminine given name (including a ...

* Raul Santangelo * Alfredo Noberasco *

Ernesto Arias Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to: * ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975 ** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...

Enrique Mazza Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk (Du ...

as police officer * Hugo Padula * Ariel Chichizola * Carlos Larrache

References

External links

* 1989 films 1980s Spanish-language films 1989 drama films Argentine drama films 1980s Argentine films Best Feature Film Golden Calf winners {{1980s-drama-film-stub