I was tired of seeing mostly bad reviews for this film. I watched it for the first time last night. Although it has many flaws I still found it a riveting political thriller combined with magical realism.
Not everything needs to play like, The Killing Fields." What is also interesting is to see many American reviews trash this film while many people in Argentina found this movie riveting and many felt it showed in-part exactly what happened. Banderas holds the centre with soulful presence, and an impassioned Thompson is gut-wrenching while events move,between the real and the imagined as Carlos envisions horrors that have taken place or are yet to come. Elements such as Carlos' subversive children's theatre productions illustrate why repressive regimes routinely target creative artists and students for the expression of ideas that they find threatening. In Argentina and all over the world men, women and children and real journalist routinely disappear. We now live in a country that supports this kind of torture with "extraordinary renditions."
This movie is a compassionate love story that shows how imagination, memory and empathy are weapons against inhumanity and the worst kind of brutality. I think it was an interesting idea to combine the paranormal with a political thriller. It was a bit uneasy at times. Especially after Carlos knows what kind of horrors have happened to the ," the disappeared" yet he follows his visions around in the dark like some TV episode of, " The Dead Zone." He brings no one with him and tells no one where he's going. He drives alone along deserted roads looking for clairvoyant signs to find his wife and eventually daughter. Driving around with no weapon in his easily identifiable red auto and parking it in clear sight. He seems completely unprepared for what might happen if he actually finds her. It's like he's sleep walking. In reality he would probably find armed guards that would be all to happy to kill or disappear him as well. On the other hand his visions lead him on a journey he might not have otherwise taken. And I thought that moved the story forward in an interesting way. As Carlos is forced to step outside of his daily reality ; which in some ways he can't quite touch because no one in government will admit the truth. That anyone has really disappeared. Maybe his wife is having an affair? Maybe those children ran away?
In a scene where Carlos comes to ask the General yet again about his wife. The General casually watches mothers march outside of his office , chanting for the return of their children. Carlos turns asking him " what do you think of when you watch them?" He replied, "even animals have mothers." Carlos should clearly understand at this point that there will be no accountability or admission of truth from this man or his government. And the true danger he is in. Yet he never seems to quite grasp it.
While 'Imagining Argentina' is deeply moving, it is also a bit one-sided character-wise, as Thompson's Cecilia is never developed in the same way as Banderas' Carlos. We see her in prison, enduring ritual brutality, but don't get an insight into how her imagination is fueling her hope and keeping her alive. It's a bit annoying to see an actress as complex and talented as Thompson not having her character explored more in a film like this. It would have added a lot more complexity to this film.
This film isn't like, Salvador, "Before Night Falls " or "Missing" but it's definitely worth watching. The closing caption, which tells us 30,000 Argentineans disappeared between 1976 and 1983 and many more around the world. Many of these governments passed laws that gave themselves complete amnesty for their actions. Just like our government is doing right now. "
We live in a country where our own Attorney General considers the Geneva Conventions,"quaint." And challenges in court to this administration are being thrown out because of "national security." The gov seems to always end by saying we didn't do anything wrong. Yet just in case they pass new laws which give them complete amnesty for any of their actions in our out of office. Our own president's refusal to accept UN definitions of torture . The notion that my country, the nation that helped draft the Geneva Conventions, that spearheaded creation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, could be responsible for deliberately sending innocent men to be tortured - is very disturbing." I think movies like this are important to watch and remember.
and as one Argentina friend of mine said, " I felt the worst anguish watching this film. I cannot describe in English or Spanish how deeply this movie has gotten to me. I see in my minds eye the stories that my grandmother told me. This is a film where reality is described at it's best, and a part of me knows that justice in this country is STILL just a word with no meaning. This film is about survival and memory. It shows exactly what happened. so what if the main character has a gift of clairvoyance , it just made the film different. It was a great movie it made me remember what I choose to never forget."
