The Hour of the Furnaces (1968)

Divided into three segments, namely 1 Neocolonialism, 2 Act for liberation, 3 Violence and liberation, the documentary lasts more than 4 hours this deals with the defense of the revolution ... See full summary »

Directors:

Octavio Getino, Fernando E. Solanas

Writers:

Octavio Getino, Fernando E. Solanas

Stars:

María de la Paz, Fernando E. Solanas, Edgardo Suárez

2 wins.

Cast

Credited cast:
María de la Paz	...	Narrator
Fernando E. Solanas	...	Narrator (as Fernando Solanas)
Edgardo Suárez	...	Narrator

Storyline

Divided into three segments, namely 1 Neocolonialism, 2 Act for liberation, 3 Violence and liberation, the documentary lasts more than 4 hours this deals with the defense of the revolution and the revolution of the third world such as the revolt of the students in the United States and Western Europe, Czech citizens protest against the Soviet Union's State bureaucracy and also the revolution that (probably) is unprecedented in Argentina.

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Plot Keywords:

anti colonial | third cinema | reference to eva peron | reference to fidel castro | united states of america | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Argentina

Language:

Spanish English Portuguese

Release Date:

1 November 1973 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

The Hour of the Furnaces

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company Credits

Production Co:

Grupo Cine Liberacion, Solanas Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

260 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was presented in different versions over the years.In 1973, after the fall of the dictatorship, the four minute clip of Che Guevara was replaced by the then more relevant image of Juan Domingo Peron, who was regaining power and with whom the group behind the film sympathized with.

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Connections

Referenced in Che Guevara and Cuba's Social Welfare: Aleida Guevara's Special Lecture at Shizuoka General Hospital (2014)

User Reviews

Political manifesto through monologue, dialogue and montage.

As a very strong document of a lost age it still holds actuality.

The film leaves no room for objection and it is assured of it's own truth. The subject of the film is the "Neo-Colonisation" of South America through a historical perspective but is still heavily anchored in the 60s. It is divided into sections labelled The History, The Country, The System and so forth. Each section is usually introduced with a presentation of the subject and it's problems, complications and horrors in a fact like fashion but then drifts into strong pictures illustrating the subject alternatively it uses very strong montage sequences (both audio and visual). Examples of these montages are cuts between ad campaigns and poverty or a slaughterhouse and the exploitation of South American resources and so fort, all skilfully made. In whole the film is a very strong piece of work and it would be futile to, at this level, try and analyse it. Still I would like to comment that it is as much propaganda as manifesto, not that it would make it a worse film but still, it doesn't really strike you as all that very objective. To wrap it up I must say that it is well worth seeing and studying.