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:

Leguizamón mentions that over 290 veterans had committed suicide after the war, and indicates that this is the same as the name number of casualties there during the war. Argentine casualties during the war totalled 649, of which 321 were killed when the Admiral Belgrano was sunk. If Leguizamón was counting only the casualties on the Falklands themselves, his figure is roughly correct. Source: Wikipedia

Goofs:

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

Tristan Bauer : a truly great film from the director of Después de la tormenta (1990)

Iluminados por el fuego is one of the finest anti war films.It is based on a book by Edgardo Esteban who fought at Falklands Islands as a soldier for more than 50 days.It is a sad tale of a journalist Esteban Leguizamón (Gastón Pauls) who is informed that his colleague at war Vargas (Pablo Ribba) has attempted to commit suicide as he was disturbed due to recurrent images of war.Esteban visits his colleague at hospital.This sad visit forces him to go back to the memories of the past.Argentinian auteur Tristan Bauer acquaints viewers with one of the most stupid wars waged at Falkland Islands (Islas Malavinas) in 1982 between Argentina and United Kingdom.Falklands war was horrendous for Argentina can be explained from the fact that it was responsible for the killing of more than 400 soldiers due to suicide.It is believed that some 267 soldiers lost their lives while they were defending the false pride of Argentina.Tristan Bauer shows us the madness of a futile war.His film proves that when a soldier dies, humanity also loses with him.Tristan Bauer is highly critical of Argentinian army generals who are shown as cowards.He tells that young soldiers have no choice but are forced to die for their motherland.