“Never Again.”
Spoilers ahead...
Plot: Political Biography About Events of Argentina in 1984
Inspired
by the true events of Argentina in 1984, when the military fascist dictatorship
rule finally ended. Over the past many years, there were kidnappings of
innocents, people disappearing, torture without reason, rapes, and deaths. It
has now been 7 months, and no trial from the military court has occurred
regarding the injustices committed by the previous people in command.
Therefore, the civilian court gets the chance to hear the case, with the
prosecution led by lawyer Julio César Strassera (Ricardo Darin), who later gets
assistance from Luis Moreno Ocampo (Peter Lanzani).
Biographies
are already a tough watch because the chronological order of narrating the
story often isn’t compelling. When it becomes a political biography, it’s worse
because, firstly, I hate political figures, and secondly, with all the pressure
from powerful people, the chances of a true depiction and not just seeing one
side of the story diminish greatly.
Since I
know nothing about Argentina or this story, I viewed the movie as a courtroom
drama. There’s humor involved whenever Julio’s family scenes are shown—whether
it’s about how he makes his son spy on his daughter to ensure she isn’t dating
someone who could be a danger to him and his family or the frustrated
expressions he makes while watching an interview with a political figure on TV.
Interestingly, Julio even takes his son’s help for the final statement in
court.
The
scenes involving tortured people narrating how and what happened to them are
the toughest to watch, especially knowing this happened in real life. The
pregnant lady being tortured is heart-breaking and deeply disturbing, even
without visuals.
Issues in Argentina, 1985
The two
major issues I felt were, firstly, the whole trial period where they had to
gather evidence is done too quickly through a montage. They could have shown
more struggle before eventually getting 800+ witnesses and loads of evidence
files. The other problem was the courtroom drama felt less intense, mainly
because the tussle between prosecution and defense happened rarely. Surely,
there was room for building a lot more tension, knowing this wasn’t just any
case but a political one involving past commanders of the country. Also, I
didn’t understand why there was no defense statement at the end—do courts in
Argentina not do that?
Ricardo Darin and Peter Lanzani Deliver Enjoyable Performances
The
Julio-Luis pairing was fun, initially for the inability to get his name right
every time. The only big argument they have, when Luis blames Julio for not
doing anything during the dictatorship period, gets very intense.
Ricardo
Darin is excellent, portraying a character who is constantly worried about his
family but also wants to give justice to all those people mistreated by the
military dictatorship. He’s also humorous, like how he orders his secretary to
do something and quickly changes his tone to a request when told he can’t fire
her. I liked his final moving statement that ends with the words, "Never
Again."
Peter
Lanzani does well in a supporting role. The moment when Luis is being followed
from the lift, I almost felt he might die, and how that makes him feel in the
next courtroom scene where he keeps fearing there’s an actual bomb in there.
Verdict on Argentina, 1985
Overall,
"Argentina, 1985" is a good watch. It might resonate more with locals
or those who know the history better. As a courtroom drama, I felt it lacked in
some departments, yet it tells the tale of people who suffered, and you can’t
help but wonder how such dictatorship rule has ruined lives in any country
where it’s applied, directly or indirectly.
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