The Official Story (La historia oficial)
by Luis Puenzo
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DVD details
Actor: Chunchuna Villafa?e, Guillermo Battaglia, H?ctor Alterio, Hugo Arana, Norma AleandroDirector: Luis Puenzo
Brand: Koch International
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Dolby, Enhanced, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 114 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-09
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Koch Lorber Films
DVD Reviews of The Official Story (La historia oficial)
DVD Review: Overcoming the banality of evil, corruption in adoption
Summary: 4 Stars
La Historia Official is a well-made film about awakening from passive complicity in evil, in this case, forced adoption. The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo were and are an inspiration to those who struggle to uncover and resist abuses in adoption practices, be they the enslaved Irish women of the Magdalen laundries or the many indigenous peoples who had children forcibly removed from homes to be adopted by whites. Most of adoption does not involve abduction, but to turn a blind eye to the fact that it does exist, is to be passively complicit, as was the protagonist in this film.
The scene in which the teacher realizes that tremendous evil has indeed been perpetrated, and that she may very well be the beneficiary of such evil, is staggering. Norma Aleandro is a talented enough actress that we believe her initial rejection of this revelation, and her gradual evolution from passive cohort to courageous seeker of the truth.
DVD Review: Historia Oficial
Summary: 5 Stars
Events portraid really happened and many of this families are still looking for their love ones. A reality we all should be remembered with great films like this one!DVD Review: What a great movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie depicts the reality that the people of Argentina experienced in the late 70s and early 80s. Unfortunately, many experience even today! The acting is superb. If you enjoy watching foreign films, this is a great one from South America!!!DVD Review: a heartbreaking and haunting look at Argentina's dark legacy.....
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw THE OFFICIAL STORY in one of the Spanish courses I took at the University of Washington. My teacher was from Argentina and the film definitely spoke to her in a distinctive way, since she was a product of that nation and knew, firsthand, the goings on of the government with "Los Desaparecidos" (The Disappeared Ones). It was a fleet of intellectuals, old people, young people, men and women all considered a threat to Argentinean government (or subversive), who were mysteriously disappeared by the government, tortured, raped, and, in many cases, killed for speaking their minds openly about the state of political affairs.
This beautifully made film won a well-deserved Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1985. THE OFFICIAL STORY was sensitively directed by Luis Puenzo, starring Norma Aleandro, Hector Alterio and Chuchuna Villafane. Alicia (Norma Aleandro) is a teacher at an all boys school and fails to make a real connection with people of any age, much less the students she interacts with on a daily basis. She and her husband, Roberto (Hector Alterio) have adopted a little girl and it isn't until Alicia has a chance encounter with her friend, Ana (Chunchuna Villafane) that she becomes aware of the bleak reality of the disappeared ones, and begins to wonder whether her adoptive daughter might be a descendant of one of them.
This film is raw, unrepentant and very, very well done. I think all people should see this, to get a better sense of the state of Argentina's government, the treatment of its people at the hands of a brutal dictatorship, and also to experience truly beautiful cinema.
DVD Review: Cry for Me Argentina
Summary: 4 Stars
Cry for me Argentina. Back in the early 80's Argentina went through hard times economically. Actually, the country before the 1930's was one of the most prosperous in the world. They exported beef and raw materials. Their economy was fueled especially with British money that built the railroads and infrostructure. The cities were modern. Then it all dried up. The Peronists took over, a populist-quasi-fascist-socialist group and they gave way to a military juanta. Corruption and violence continued for the the next 30 years.
The most famous event during the 80's, the suppression of the Left by the Military. Many of those dissappearing into prisions were students and childbearing women. They were raped, tortured and murdered, literally vanishing into thin air. Some of the babies were adopted no questions asked. So there is the setting for this heartrendering story of the aftermath of that period. It is riviting and one of the few pro-lefty films that didn't want to make me throw up. It's even handed enough because it keeps the politics under control and emphasizes the human condition.
Description of The Official Story (La historia oficial)
Alicia marnet de ibanez is a high school history professor and a well-to-do housewife in buenos aires circa 1983 after the fall of the junta militar that had taken over the government since 1976. She has a husband roberto who is a succesful lawyer and a five-year-old adopted daughter. Studio: Koch International Release Date: 11/09/2004 Run time: 117 minutes Rating: NrThis is one of those rare political films that transcend politics with a stirring emotional story. Argentinean first-time director Luis Puenzo tells the story of a strong-willed teacher who tries to learn the true identity of her adopted daughter's father, coming to suspect that he was a political prisoner. Her political awakening is actually an emotional one as well because of her detached persona. Ironically, even though she is a teacher, she doesn't connect with people very well, thinking of history in the most abstract terms. But she learns the painful truth of present-day life. Tautly directed by Puenzo, The Official Story was a 1985 Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Film, with a riveting performance by Norma Aleandro. --Bill Desowitz
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