''The Lost Steps'' () is a 2001

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 connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

and Spanish

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Manane Rodríguez and written by Rodríguez and Xavier Bermúdez. The film features Irene Visedo, Luis Brandoni,

Federico Luppi Federico Luppi (; February 23, 1936 – October 20, 2017) was an Argentine film, television, radio and theatre actor. He won numerous awards throughout his acting career. Biography Luppi worked mostly in Argentine cinema, but also worked in Ch ...

, among others.

Plot

The film tells the story of Mónica Erigaray ( Irene Visedo), who is twenty years old and lives with her parents Ernesto Erigaray ( Luis Brandoni) and Inés ( Concha Velasco). Seventeen years ago the Erigarays left Argentina and moved to Spain to live a peaceful and quiet life. However, things change rather abruptly when a famous Argentinian writer named Bruno Leardi (

) claims that Mónica is in reality his granddaughter named Diana, daughter of his son Diego Liardi who disappeared during the

Dirty War The Dirty War () is the name used by the military junta or National Reorganization Process, civic-military dictatorship of Argentina () for its period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983. During this campaign, military and secu ...

in Argentina. At one point in the film Ernesto Erigaray and his cohorts accost Bruno and make it clear that harm will come to him if he persists with his accusations and attempts to see Mónica. Erigaray decides to confront Bruno in his hotel room, but nothing is settled. The family ends up in a Court approved hearing and Ernesto Erigaray is accused of being the Argentine torturer known by his men as "El Sapo" ("The Toad") who did his nasty work in a place known as "the Cesspit." Subsequently, DNA tests prove that Mónica is indeed the daughter of Diego Liardi and Sara Pereira (a Spanish citizen). Mónica leaves the Erigaray's and they are arrested and tried for the murder of a Spanish citizen and Mónica's illegal abduction. One year later Mónica travels to

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 ...

and marches with the

Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo () is an Argentina, Argentine human rights association formed in response to abuses by the National Reorganization Process, the military dictatorship by Jorge Rafael Videla. Initially the association worked to find ...

. She drops by her grandfather's home and tells him Diana has come to call on him. The film ends with the dedication: :To the mothers and grandmothers of Plaza del Mayo, and to those who resist the abduction of our memories.

Cast

* Irene Visedo as Mónica Erigaray (Diana Leardi Pereira) * Luis Brandoni as Ernesto Erigaray * Concha Velasco as Inés Laroche *

as Bruno Leardi * Juan Querol as Pablo * Jesús Blanco as Luis * Gabriel Moreno as Gómez * Pedro Miguel Martínez as Mélendez * Cristina Collado as Míriam * Amparo Valle as Matilde * Paulina Gálvez as Abogada Leardi * Yael Barnatán as Silvia

Reception

Critical response

Jonathan Holland, film critic for '' Variety'' magazine, gave the film a mixed review, and wrote, "Built around the children of Argentina's "

desaparecidos An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a State (polity), state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the i ...

"—political victims who disappeared during the 1970s military dictatorship—''The Lost Steps'' delivers a challenging political message in an easy-to-swallow manner.

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an director Manane Rodriguez's sophomore feature—following ''Portrait of Woman With Man in Background'' (

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

)—has powerful moments, but by focusing too strongly on the human interest rather than the politics, it ends up looking like a skeleton-in-the-closet family drama. Appearances in politically themed fests could be an option."Holland, Jonathan
''Variety,'' film review, November 30, 2001. Last accessed: January 26, 2008.

Awards

Wins * Valladolid International Film Festival:

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...

Prize - Special Mention, Manane Rodríguez; for confronting universal ambiguities in personal and social-political contexts and opting for harsh truth against convenient lies; 2001. * Toulouse Cinespaña,

Toulouse, France Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

: ''Prix Cinespaña'', Manane Rodríguez; 2002. Nominations * Argentine Film Critics Association Awards: Silver Condor, Best Actress, Irene Visedo; 2002. * Bogota Film Festival: Golden Precolumbian Circle, Best Film, Manane Rodríguez; 2002. * Valladolid International Film Festival: Golden Spike, Manane Rodríguez; 2001.

References

External links

*
''Los pasos perdidos''
at the

cinenacional.com Cinenacional.com is a web portal and web-based database about Argentine cinema. It is the most comprehensive site for information about the Argentine film industry, with a vast array of information on films, television programs, directors, actor ...

''Los pasos perdidos''
review at ''La Butaca'' by Rubén Corral * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lost Steps, The 2001 films 2001 drama films Films about Latin American military dictatorships Argentine independent films 2000s Spanish-language films Spanish independent films 2001 independent films Argentine drama films Spanish drama films 2000s Spanish films 2000s Argentine films United International Pictures films