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| FILM DETAILS | Certificate
15 | | Cast
Antonio Banderas
Emma Thompson
Ruben Blades
Maria Canals
Maria Canals
Leticia Dolera. | | Directors
Christopher Hampton. | | Screenwriters
Christopher Hampton. | | Running Time
107 minutes |
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Imagining Argentina
Christopher Hampton's brave adaptation about those abducted during the violent Argentinian coups of the 1970's.
Plot
When journalist Cecilia Rueda (Thompson) becomes one of the government’s abductees in 1970s Argentina, her husband Carlos (Banderas) develops a psychic connection to many of the ‘disappeared’. Following his visions in a desperate search for his wife, he risks further reprisals against him, his family and colleagues. Review
That playwright-turned-director Christopher Hampton's brave adaptation of Lawrence Thornton's award-winning novel should have been met with boos and walk-outs at the Venice Film Festival is absurd.
The story does no disrespect to the victims of torture and murder in Argentina, but insists we remember what happened to them (and many others today around the globe, as the film's final words say). The whole point of this compassionate, mystical love story is that imagination, memory and empathy are weapons against inhumanity.
Simpatico Banderas holds the centre with soulful presence, and an impassioned Thompson is gut-wrenching while events move, sometimes electrifyingly, between the real and the imagined as Carlos envisions horrors that have taken place or are yet to come. Around them a fine Latin-Anglo ensemble (from Claire Bloom to Spanish discovery Leticia Dolera) and elements such as Carlos' subversive children's theatre productions illustrate why repressive regimes routinely target creative artists and students.
Verdict
While this could be summed up as Missing meets The Sixth Sense, it is no mean feat to combine a political thriller with magical realism. Hampton makes a moving job of it, with top-notch cinematography and heartfelt performances. Fans of films such as Salvador may wince at the movie’s paranormal aspect, but romantics are likely to have the opposite reaction.
Reviewed by Angie Errigo
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