Customer Reviews

The Official Story

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As and argentinian citizen, I think this is the one of the most representative film about us, ever made. The screenplay shows in a very close way, the dark years of our history, when democracy was just a dream. Norma Aleandro and Hector Alteiro are simply perfect in their roles and the music of Atilio Stampone is oustanding. The first (and by the moment, the only) Oscar for Best Foreing Language Film, to Argentina. I'm really proud that people around the world could appreciate this magnificent film.

I used this film in my upper level high school Spanish class. The students, without exception, immediately became emotionally involved with the characters and the powerful story line. They could not believe this was a part of history they were not aware of and even questioned their history teachers as to why there is no mention of this in their classrooms.

Along with the movie, we did extensive research on the "desaparecidos" and they read a few real stories of children who had been "adopted" only to find out as adults that their entire life had been a lie.

What surprised my students most of all was the relatively lenient treatment the perpetrators of this heinous crime received after being found guilty.

This movie, and topic, is suitable for an upper level high school class (4th year and up). I recommend that you prepare the students beforehand by doing some research on the topic and period of Argentinian history. It would also be valuable to research the link between the military dictator of Argentina at the time and the government of the U.S.

Very few films have reached this level of excellence. This multiple award winner (Oscar, Cannes, etc.), is magnificently directed by Luis Puenzo and superbly acted by everyone in the cast (Norma Leandro is extraordinary). The beauty of the cinematography, with its sharp contrasts of red and blue, the editing, the script...it's all a marvel.

One of the things this film is about is how the truth can unravel a seemingly "perfect" situation when it's based on wrong motives and actions.

This film will capture you...you won't just watch it, you'll live it. Don't miss this incredibly powerful cinematic experience.

The military juntas in Argentina had methods similar to those of Pinochet in Chile and Castro in Cuba. You will see in this movie how Argentine society wretched at the numerosity of the families suffering losses. You will see the "abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo," protesting in a way never seen before. But the uniqueness of this film lies in its portrayal of how an unlikely family finds that it, too, has fallen victim, in an unexpected way, in the wake of a secretly brutal regime.

The movie is poignant in another way: very subtlely, it portrays how an average man in the government, a husband who loves his wife and daughter dearly, is himself changed, profoundly, through his association with the government (a government willing to hurt its citizens in order to battle a threatening ideology). The slow, subtle build-up of a tension that must be resolved, and the crescendo in the final scenes, are moving. In the end, in its portrayal of a particular case (Argentina), this movie holds a mirror to human nature, showing us both the depths, as well as the heights, which men and women can reach.

This appears to be one of the best Argentine films made in the '80s. I think it shows that Argentine filmmaking is alive and well. If you like this movie, I would also recommend another Argentine film: Man Facing Southeast, a more reflective, philosophical movie, with a very subtle religious interrogative, probing the question of who we are as human beings.

This movie addressed a painful issue to many Argentinans, the dissapearances during the military regime. Aleandro's excellent acting, the films story, how it evolves, the tragedy behind the emotions, the tragedy of chosing between existing bliss and justice, and a touchy subject, is very much worthwhile viewing, and maintains actuality to this day, with the outstanding reconciliations of societies like Argentina and Chile with the dissapearences and genocide of people opposed to the dictatorships, or who simply had different points of view. It is a pity that the DVD images are not well reproduced, some work could have been done to improve them through existing technology, and I was shocked to see a DVD that reproduces the subtitle in the movie, and does not allow you to take the subtitles off. Studios have to think more globally and be less US centric, and give us, who speak several languages, the option to take off or put on the subtitles.

This actress is phenomenal in this role. She IS Alicia and her portrayal of coming to terms with Argentina's dirty war secrets is the most compelling acting I've seen in my life. She is simply remarkable and the film's power and emotion center on her flawless portrayal.
Some heart-wrenching moments:
When she gently unfolds her baby's cloth diaper, long saved in a box of momentos from her infancy, or when she snuggles up to little Gaby, holding tight to her child, the woman's agony becomes so real that you forget that you're watching a movie and your heart feels the pain of her situation.
I've seen this movie at least 10 times and I find myself still tearing up when Norma performs Alicia so masterfully.

An interesting symbol I've noticed in the film:
The opening and closing of doors.
----Alicia watching the doors swing back and forth while witnessing the birth of a child in the hospital
----Alicia seeing a door at Roberto's office suddenly close, to hide a criminal act in progress
----Roberto closing the door on her fingers, as if to keep her from passing through the door
----Alicia's departure, the silence leading up to the heavy close of the door, as we see her profile finally pass through.
(These are the examples that come to mind. I'm sure there are more)
In the context of Argentine history in the mid 1980's, the country itself was passing through a door to democracy.

(Un pasito para allí, que miedo que me da...) The music is a perfect thematic instrument in the film as well.

What a complex and aesthetic film this is!

One of the most powerful stories I've ever seen on screen is The Official Story. It tells of a mother who learns the truth about her adopted daughter.

The story is set in Argentina in the 1980s. Alicia is a high school teacher who talks with her students daily about the events that go on around her. She has a lawyer husband and an adopted 5 year old daughter. Her life seems pretty ideal.

Suddenly, Alicia is given a hint that her daughter wasn't given to her through a traditional adoption - that in fact the young girl was orphaned by government action and was stolen from her proper family. This was the time of the "Desaparecidos" - the "disappeared". Some estimate that 30,000 or more Argentians were massacred during this period of political unrest. Alicia's husband denies that their child is involved in this situation. Alicia becomes more and more curious, doing investigations into the actual history of what happened.

Alicia knows little of what her husband actually "does". She sees him as a strong but loving man. As she begins to assert her own independence, though, her husband becomes more and more controlling.

In fact, the movie has a "R" rating but throughout most of the movie, nothing scary happens. The dialogue tells you about the tortures and evils that happened without actually showing any. It demonstrates how petrified current Argentinians are, while only hinting at the reason. The core reason for that R rating comes in the last 10 minutes of the film.

At this point, Alicia knows for sure that her child was stolen from her rightful family after the parents were slain. Alicia has brought the daughter to the grandma's house so that she and her husband can discuss the issue without the daughter being present. The husband, however, thinks that Alicia has returned the child to her "real family" and gets upset. He brutally attacks his wife, slamming her fingers in a door jam and slamming her head on the ground. When Alicia is finally able to gasp out that the daughter is just somewhere safe, the husband is apologetic - but the damage is done. Alicia has realized just how brutal her husband is and what he is capable of. She leaves.

The behavior of the husband towards Alicia mimics the behavior of the Argentinian government towards its people. In both cases the attitude was one of paternal control, with violence always at the ready if things did not go just the way that was wanted.

From a domestic violence standpoint, the movie shows that you can often never know what someone is truly like until you are in a tough situation. Alicia thought her husband was a bit controlling but generally OK through her years of marriage. She didn't suspect that he could physically attack her. However, when the first "test" was reached, the husband's immediate reaction was to beat her up to find out the answers he needed. It was a part of his personality that had always been there. When Alicia realized that, she left him.

I am a Spanish teacher who talks about Argentina and the Dirty War and I use this film to perfectly illustrate how people were made to "disappear" and how power was abused, etc, and how the smallest of children became innocent victims. "The Official Story" does all of that and more. I also relate the film to the Holocaust, as these leaders may not have killed as many, but they used the same techniques. The movie is so well done.

We watched this movie in my Modern Latin America class. It moved me to tears. What happened in Argentina in that period, la guerra sucia and los desaparecidos is something which must be exposed so that it never happens again. This movie is subtile - it never shows torture or killing, although perhaps up to 30,000 Argentines dissapeared, but it shows the CULTURE OF FEAR that they were living in, and how it even created rifts within the same family. I highly recomend this film.

Examining one of the most harrowing eras in Argentina's history, this emotionally gripping film portrays the costs of political oppression in the most personal terms. Aleandro is astonishing as Alicia, an educated but naïve woman who digs to find the truth. Winner of the 1985 Oscar for Best Foreign Film, "The Official Story" is strong medicine, worth taking.