Iluminados por el fuego (2005)

Director:

Tristán Bauer

Writers:

Tristán Bauer (writer)
Miguel Bonasso (writer)

Release Date:

8 September 2005 (Argentina)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | War

Plot:

The suicide of an old soldier buddy brings up some old memories for an Argentinian man.

Plot Keywords:

Argentina | Journalist | Hospital | Falkland Islands | Memory

Awards:

14 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Gastón Pauls	...	Esteban Leguizamón
Pablo Riva	...	Alberto Vargas
César Albarracín	...	Juan Chamorro
Víctor Hugo Carrizo	...	Pizarro
Virginia Innocenti	...	Marta / Maria Vargas
Juan Leyrado
Arturo Bonín
Jon Lucas	...	Doblajes
Mario Chaparro
Tony Lestingi
Carlos Garmendia	...	Doblaje
Lautaro Delgado
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Miguel Oscar Acuna
Marcos Damian Alias
Gabriel Casal
Nestor Cordoba
Juan De Lima
Mauro Espinoza
Gabriel Fernandez
Guillermo Flores
Leonardo Mendietta
Claudio Pereyra
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Julio Roberto Rios
Tony Smith
René Soto
Margaret Thatcher	...	Herself (archive footage)
Damian Valdez
Esteban Vera
Eduardo Villalba

Also Known As:

Blessed by Fire (USA) (festival title)
Iluminados por el fuego (Spain)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

Argentina | Spain

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | New Zealand:R13 | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

Canal+ España

Trivia:

The A.R.A Gral Belgrano (with 1030 14-year-old cadets on board, of which almost 400 died) was 100 miles away from the exclusion zone Great Britain had declared when she was sunk by a nuclear submarine.

Goofs:

Continuity: The sweat patterns on Leguizamón's jacket change in the two shots immediately after he leaves the infirmary.

A harrowing call against oblivion

I just saw 'Iluminados por el fuego' at the 'Filmar en America Latina' film festival in Geneva, which takes places here every year and lasts about three weeks in November. Fist of all, I would like to say that I have read all the 3 comments posted so far and found all the three useful. What I would also like to say is that even here, people who had seen the film I talked to also felt like me that it was very strong and extremely intelligently made because, instead of depicting details of military operations, it really focused on the real drama, the drama of young conscripts who DID NOT want to go to war and were sent to a completely useless slaughter and the tragic aftermath of it. Another strong point of the film is that is also emphasizes the total lack of humanity of a bloody dictatorship, which, non content of having already killed about 30'000 people (I think this is the official number of the 'disappeared', and I heard there might have been more; anyway, anyone who might confirm or correct what I say here is welcome)could not, before leaving power, perform another final act of abominable criminal madness, which, in many respect, reminds of the criminal madness of the Nazis at the end of WW II in Germany,which also sent thousands to a useless death simply because they knew their time was over. This very war, which many people around the world tend to forget nowadays, is the final tragic demonstration of the Nazi-like nature of this military dictatorship, and it is even more disgusting to know that many of those involved in it have benefited from amnesty, instead of being sentenced to death by hanging like their models!!! This, I think, is one of the very reason why films such as 'Iluminados por el fuego' are important.