The Official Story (La historia oficial)
by Luis Puenzo
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Actor: Chunchuna Villafañe, Guillermo Battaglia, Héctor Alterio, Hugo Arana, Norma AleandroDirector: Luis Puenzo
Brand: Koch International
Cinematographer: Félix Monti
Writer: Luis Puenzo
Editor: Juan Carlos Macías
Producer: Marcelo Piñeyro
Producer: Rolando Epstein
Producer: Óscar Kramer
Writer: Aída Bortnik
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Color, Dolby, Enhanced, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
Published: 2004
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: A must-see
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Description of The Official Story (La historia oficial)
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