Prior to his return to Argentina in June 1973, former president Juan Domingo Perón, living in exile in Spain, summoned the left wing of his Peronist Party (Montoneros, Peronist Youth) to create conditions that would press the military government into allowing him to come back to Argentina and to be a candidate in national elections. Since his overthrow in 1955 he had been banished from Argentina and the Peronist Party was not allowed to participate in elections. The Peronist left, especially the Montoneros, carried out their assignment to perfection creating, by means of guerrilla actions, a climate of tension and uncertainty that convinced the military that the return of Perón was the only alternative to outright civil war. The Montoneros believed they could nudge Peron in the direction of socialism. At the head of his party Perón won the elections in July 1973 by a large margin, but his government had a right wing bent from the beginning. There were rumblings from the Montoneros and the left. In May 1974, in a stunning betrayal, Perón disowned the Montoneros in a public speech, expelling them from the Peronist party. The speech encouraged the military, the police and their death squads to hunt the Peronist left down. It was the official start of the Dirty War, which became especially murderous when the military took power in 1976, lasted until 1982 and cost 30,000 lives. Most of the Montoneros were murdered; some managed to escape to exile.
The movie opens in Spain. Miguel, an Argentinian living in Spain since the seventies, has a son Mario, also born in Argentina. Miguel suffers from a degenerative disease that has wiped out his short term memory (he doesn't recognize Mario at times). Mario knows next to nothing of his father's history in Argentina and is trying to retrieve the information from him before his entire memory is obliterated.
This film does many things right. It shows the corruption of trade unions and the difficulty of Miguel's transition trom peaceful labor activist to Montonero. It teaches a lesson on recent Argentine history, fading from collective memory. On this basis, it should be seen. However, the plot contains some scarcely credible twists such as: Miguel and Gloria have secured false documents for themselves and their son and have a few hours before the departure of their flight to Spain. Miguel insists that Gloria meet her estranged mother so she can know her grandson. Now, Miguel and Gloria are in the sights of the military and the police, her mother probably under surveillance; not surprisingly, Gloria is caught. Another: in a scene Miguel, who was totally unfamiliar with guns a few scenes back, uses the weapon with Bondian skill. And so on. Final conclusion: there are plot problems but they do not outweigh the positives.
The movie opens in Spain. Miguel, an Argentinian living in Spain since the seventies, has a son Mario, also born in Argentina. Miguel suffers from a degenerative disease that has wiped out his short term memory (he doesn't recognize Mario at times). Mario knows next to nothing of his father's history in Argentina and is trying to retrieve the information from him before his entire memory is obliterated.
This film does many things right. It shows the corruption of trade unions and the difficulty of Miguel's transition trom peaceful labor activist to Montonero. It teaches a lesson on recent Argentine history, fading from collective memory. On this basis, it should be seen. However, the plot contains some scarcely credible twists such as: Miguel and Gloria have secured false documents for themselves and their son and have a few hours before the departure of their flight to Spain. Miguel insists that Gloria meet her estranged mother so she can know her grandson. Now, Miguel and Gloria are in the sights of the military and the police, her mother probably under surveillance; not surprisingly, Gloria is caught. Another: in a scene Miguel, who was totally unfamiliar with guns a few scenes back, uses the weapon with Bondian skill. And so on. Final conclusion: there are plot problems but they do not outweigh the positives.
