Garage Olimpo (1999) User Reviews

The Dark Age of Argentina and South America

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 2 October 2009]

In the 70's, the eighteen year-old Maria Fabiani (Antonella Costa) lives with her French mother Diane (Dominique Sanda) in an old house in Buenos Aires, subletting rooms and giving classes to illiterate adults in the slums. One of the tenants, Felix (Carlos Echevarría), has a non-corresponded crush on Maria. When the teenager is abducted in her house by the Argentinean army accused of subversion, her mother seeks her out in the 23rd Precinct where one of the military without uniform tells her that they are heading with Maria. While Diane desperately tries to find information about her daughter, Maria is submitted to torture in the hideous underground of the Garage Olimpo. Out of the blue, Felix and she meet each other in the interrogation room and Maria finds that he is one of her torturers. Felix protects Maria the best he can while the prisoner develops the Stockholm Syndrome to her hostage-taker.

"Garage Olimpo" has just been released on DVD in Brazil and depicts the dark age of Argentina in the late 70's and early 80's (and also in most South America – Brazil, Chile and Uruguay), when the military governments sponsored by the United States of America disrupted the human rights of the civilian societies and promoted coup d'état and takeover, toppling the governments elected by people. In Argentina, the common practice was the torture and subsequent death of the militants that were drugged and then dropped in the sea by military airplanes, with their children given for adoption especially in the period 1976-1983. In Argentina, the unofficial number of missing persons in accordance with Human Rights Organizations is about 30,000 people. In Brazil, the number of people arrested by the military government was between 50,000 and 70,000 and in the present days, after the amnesty that protected mainly the torturers, there are still 140 missing persons. Garage Olimpo shows this procedure through the relationship of Maria with Felix, and also the desperation of her mother. Later, the Argentinean mothers of missing people have become human rights activists and formed the organization "Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo" with the goal of finding their kidnapped children. Therefore, Garage Olimpo is a must-see especially for the youngest generations that might be not aware of the horrors of this period. The Brazilian DVD does not translate the last sentence in the movie accurately. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Garage Olimpo"

A fist in the Stomach. Do not miss it

[silviopellerani · 7/10 · 6 July 2000]

Bechis is a good example of the best Costa Gavras that you could ever see. This very dark Argentinian period is photographed with a very clean and doubtless hand. Do not leave anything pending, Bechis's position is quite clear and naked. The reality given by certain scenes could remember you some of those films shot in "film veritè" technique. The only critic that I could say about the film is that I would have prefer to get into deeper details of certain characters of the reasons why they decided to be torturers and follow certain life. A film that will not be forgotten, much less commercial than "Missing" of Costa Gavras. A fist in the stomach. Rating: 7

Not sure about Loach comparison, but the film is very good

[progosk · 8/10 · 12 April 2000]

It's a film that leaves pretty speechless. The director weaves subtle poetry into a story that is especially shocking because we all know that events that seem so impossible were (and are) tragically true. It's also interesting to read about Bechis' approach and working method (i.e. studio recreation of the "garage" rather than working in a location, use of "real" props, etc.).

Small Footnote

[nihao · 3 May 2005]

It may be of interest to note that the final sequence aboard the 'Hercules' aircraft of the 'Fuerza Aerea Argentina' was actually shot using a private plane which the director rented off a collector and had painted with Argentine Airforce colors and codes. The Argentine military had no intention to lend a plane, despite the atrocities committed 30 years ago. The City of Buenos Aires, cosmopolitan and civilized as it is, retains a large amount of its 'garages', to this day, although thankfully put to different use. A chilling list of the major torture centerers can be seen by the casual tourist within the walls of the Centro Cultural Recoleta, in Plaza Francia, City Centre. To this day torture cells are being uncovered.

This is the first film that shows the horror during the last military government in Argentina.

[Escultu · 7/10 · 29 July 1999]

Argentine, 1978. The place and the year, where and when, the 'futbol' and the disappearances are together. A women who fall in love with the man who hurts her. He's the only person she have in the world, but it's your torturer. The film was presented in Cannes.

Garage Olimpo: A Marco Bechis film about one of the worst periods [1976-1982] of Argentine history.

[FilmCriticLalitRao · 10/10 · 29 June 2013]

As a person who suffered enormously at the hands of military establishment in Argentina, director Marco Bechis is the best person to know more about his film "Garage Olimpo". He wrote this film with his long time collaborator Lara Fremder who has already worked with him for three films. This film gives vivid details about what exactly happened in one of the torture cells in Buenos Aires where innocent people were subjugated to the worst forms of physical suffering. The film presents some good views of Buenos Aires as one gets to see big modern buildings on one side and shanty towns on the other side. On the surface level everything appears to be normal and it is only the relatives of the tortured people who are shown as facing tough times. Although the torture cell is portrayed in a detailed manner, Marco Bechis ensures that it does not become graphic. This is the reason why the torture is not at all glorified but merely depicted as one of the dirty tricks employed by the military to control its political opponents. The film is gripping as it shows that everybody is involved including the religious priest. One also gets to see that there are no loyalties and nobody could be trusted. It is towards the end that one gets a better idea of the evil designs of Argentine military establishment who chose to carry innocent people on its planes in order to drop them alive in the water. Despite having been chosen for "Un Certain Regard" section at Cannes International Film Festival 1999 and a theatrical release in France, this autobiographical film by Marco Bechis deserves to be known better as it carries the important message that human rights are important in order to stop the persecution of innocent people.

A disturbing but necessary experience. One of the movies of the season

[Pumpkin-16 · 9/10 · 21 March 2000]

I'm not sure this movie will be released where you're reading this comment,but if it is, please,go and see it. you have to. Be prepared though: It's very intense and disturbing, and when it is over you will feel dirty, soiled,shocked. This is a film about Argentina under the Military regime of the late '70s. This is a movie about the desaparecidos, Argentinian citizens kidnapped from their homes from the police and the military,tortured and imprisoned to extort information from them and then, finally, killed, most of the times thrown in the ocean from a plane while doped. Their crime? Trying to fight this regime. The film is almost perfect:great screenplay,great cast,great direction. Essential viewing. For more than one reason. Rating:9

This content contains some crucial info about the ending (sorry!).

[Hek-3 · 10/10 · 1 May 2000]

This film is set in Argentina at the end of the 70's but it could be set anywhere in anytime. As soon as Maria gets kidnapped by the army, the film changes to an unbearable, uncomfortable and quite minimalist atmosphere.

The structure of the film itself brings out the complexity of resistance and engagement : the act of Ana arouses our sympathy at the beginning of the film but causes the death of Maria at the end of it. Also, the beautiful shots of the sea and of Buenos Aires taking from a plane turn out to be horrific as they suggest the death of the Disappeared.

The scenes where Felix, her torturer, takes Maria out from the Garage are well done and exceptional. The author shows the unconcern, thoughtlessness and happiness of the people who care more about the world cup as if nothing was happening, and show in the same time the terror of Maria's face with her eyes trying to find a way out. The relationship between Felix and Maria doesn't fall into the sentimental stereotype and is quite secondary. Maria knows that Felix is her only chance of survival, she plays the game but will never love never.

When I saw this film there were only 3 of us in the cinema. It was as if I saw it alone, in the dark in front of this story. I had a strange feeling when I came out and I will never forget this film.

Panic attack

[garageolympo · 10/10 · 25 February 2004]

My friend who is a psychiatrist working with torture survivors had experienced his first panic attack while watching this movie.

I did not. But I use the nick "garageolympo" since I saw the film.

The film explains what to expect from military regimes, blood, misery, lies and death.

I recommend who love this movie: Noche de los lápices, La (1986) (night of pencils) and may be "missing" and "Z" by Costa Gavras.

I live in a country in which people experience torture and pressure, So I liked this film to tell our anonymous story.

Sensitive Subject, Insensitive Film

[charlietperez · 2/10 · 1 May 2007]

I though that it was hard, if not impossible, to watch, and not because of the horrors it depicts but by the way they were depicted. Imagine what Costa Gavras could have done with this true horror story. What I object to is the idea the need to denounce, which I subscribe to, is enough. What about showing it to us with the power of powerful cinema. I feel that the eagerness of the filmmaker, maybe even the justifiable anger, didn't allow him to see it clearly from a cinematic point of view. Or, if this was a cinematic point of view, I mean, a choice, then, I didn't like it at all. I was more disturbed by the way the movie was shot than by the movie itself. Well intentioned I'm sure, but, unfortunately, that's not nearly enough.

If you see, you are dead, say one man to her. There's nothing more to see anyway.

[Chaves7777 · 10/10 · 25 October 2007]

Is well known for much the story of the dictatorship in Latin America, specially in the south side. This begin in 1976, and is no more than one of the most embarrassing times for any of this countries. Time where innocent, young and old, people who only fight for its rights were tortured in the most horrible ways, with none rake of hope or life. There some movie which treat this topic, "Garage Olimpo" is one of them, is a movie that don't treat a easy thing, is a film that must fight with memory and with the bloody past of us, the Latin American people.

"Garage Olimpo" told us the story of María, a beautiful young woman who lives in a big house with her mother and a tenant called Félix in the military dictatorship. She teach to old people and too, with other people, fight against the military repression. One day she is taken by some men and go then to a kind of Garage, hide down earth. She now must live horrible tortures by these men, and one of them is Félix. This is a kind of sipnosis for this hard movie. As a Latin American, "Garage Olimpo" was one of the greatest, if not one of the hardest, experiences of my life. This is not a film for fun, or something like that, you must see it with a clean mind, ready and with no kind of worries, i think every movie must see it in that way.

Some of the countries that suffer more this was Argentina, Chile and Urugay, between others. It was a hard moment, bloody and really full of injustice, and now, years after, is a situation that really shame much of us, and "Garage Olimpo" is one that Must See and Must Feel experiences, because make you take on count of a lot of things, and is exactly a prove, a response of a lot of the injustices in this moment. There was in 1986 another movie called "La Noche de los lápices", another masterpiece which treat this topic, also in Argentina, but the difference here, is that "Garage Olimpo" doesn't makes you tremble so much as think and too feel really bad.

"Garage Olimpo" is a sad experience because shown us a city (This was explained by director Marco Bechis who live too some of this dictatorship) divided in two -You feel this all the time with takes of Buenos Aires at night and at day - : Up, the cars move really normal, the kid play and the grown ups work, all is very normal. At the same time, down, people is abused, is sick and without any chance of see, and no thanks to a blanket which cover their eyes, is because, in middle of darkness, they can't see another future better than suffer and finally death. This film shown us a reality that, unfortunately, is see it here, in Colombia, in Argentina, in Latin America, in all the world.

"Garage Olimpo" is not only an historical achievement, is too a movie for the memory and hearts for the Latin American. Is a movie that get stuck in your mind telling you that something must to change. This is not a positive film, seeing that kind of things, there's not something positive to say.

*Sorry for the mistakes...well, if there any.

Beautiful, hard-hitting film exploring torture in Argentina

[karmabuona · 10/10 · 11 December 2003]

This is a powerful, hard-hitting film, depicting the experience of a 'desaparecida' in Argentina at the end of the 1970s. Garage Olimpo examines how 18-year-old Maria copes with a sustained period of imprisonment and torture. One of the most disturbing elements of the film is its exploration of the bond and unexpected power plays that develop between Maria and one of her captors, Felix. Director Marco Bechis deals with the complexity of human relations unflinchingly - asking the viewer to consider the real nature of a range of human responses and experiences: love, hate, attraction, power, sex, sadism, kindness and the almost visceral need for basic physical and emotional contact. He typically heightens the impact of his subject matter through understatement and contrast. This can be seen in his use of sound for example, in which he sets up a ping-pong game or relentlessly upbeat song on the radio as a backdrop to scenes of implied violence. Bechis similarly avoids any direct shots of violence, using the captors' chillingly matter-of-fact attitude or the painstakingly slow build-up to the door closing on a torture room to let the viewers' imagination run riot. This approach is echoed by the cinematography, which after Maria's arrest is largely confined to the undergound network of cells and torture rooms where the prisoners are kept. Bechis uses this framework of restricted vision and heightened sound to reflect and convey the prisoners' experience. This is an unforgettable, disturbing and beautiful film, that sticks with the viewer long after the credits have rolled.

Awesome portrayal of 'covert action'

[ouiliam · 9/10 · 8 April 2005]

Bechis masters both camera and music to create an unbearable atmosphere of repression. Rarely have I seen such overpowering scenes deftly juxtaposed with banal shots of everyday city streets, effectively highlighting the urgent, yet hidden nature of political dissent. Not for the lighthearted, but for those willing to endure a gut-wrenching film for the sake of experiencing the tragic reality of what actually happened in Argentina, Chile and, more disturbingly, what probably is going on right now in places like Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, even as you read this. I definitely think films like this should be shown as a counterweight to the current sanitized version mainstream media feeds us, after being put through the hell of the concentration camp style 'garage olimpo', I doubt anyone would believe much in the hollow promises of militaristic presidents ever again.

more than just a movie

[sarefo · 10/10 · 21 February 2004]

this is the single most disturbing film that i ever watched. when i came out of the cinema, i cried for about half an hour, something which i have never done on any other film. it is because this film is so real. even now, after two years, i start to cry when i think of certain scenes.

marco bechis was himself captured in argentina, so he could draw from his own experience, and it definitely shows. fortunately for him, because he is half italian, he came free again. others were not so lucky, and this film is a monument for them.

Wonderful

[benry_68 · 10/10 · 8 January 2003]

Simply a wonderful film for it's messages, really a good work.

I like very much the use of lights... very dark under the garage and shining outside, it's very important also in the pice when the girl tries to escape from the prison (a very strong light came into the garage from the door) and at the end, happens the same from the back door of the airplane.

A pice of history that everyone has to know and nobody has to forget.

What a terrific piece of work.

[searchanddestroy-1 · 25 July 2016]

I watched this absolutely gruesome film sixteen years ago now and I still remember it. I know that there were many films made about Chilia and Argentina dictatorship regimes, but unfortunately most of them did not reach France. Only a batch were available. This one is far better than COLONIA, speaking of Chilia and made for wide audiences, with the happy end which silly sissies crave for. I don't. How can you forget those unbearable scenes of torture whilst torturers' colleagues play ping pong in the backyard?...Of course this film, GARAGE OLIMPO is not destined for wide audiences, not for the squeamish.

If you have not seen it yet, run for it. It is available on DVD.

Very good but generalizes

[nikos3194 · 8/10 · 4 April 2015]

I found it very good for denouncing impunity perpetrated by the task forces of the dictatorship (although distinct reminds me of "The Night of the Pencils"). But just give 8 and not 10 points because it puts all detainees as participants involved in leftist movements, when in fact very few who clung were so involved as to have "name for war". Have to look but in the fact that all but one Montoneros heads survived, same with the heads of ERP, etc. The fact that the "heavy" guerrillas was survive is a proof that they were grabbed "parsley" (sap). At least that's my opinion and this film in generalizing the subversive participation I supposed to do that "all detainees were involved to a greater or lesser extent", something that what I disagree.

A new Ken Loach!

[attro · 11 June 1999]

If you like the Loach of "Land and Freedom" you'll love this film. Bechis forgot the stillness and the nihilism of Alambrado to direct a touching and tough film on Argentina's regime. A real good movie, I loved it, hope you will too!