Iluminados por el fuego (2005)

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

Director:

Tristán Bauer

Writers:

Tristán Bauer, Miguel Bonasso

Stars:

Gastón Pauls, Pablo Ribba, César Albarracín

15 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Gastón Pauls	...	Esteban Leguizamón
Pablo Ribba	...	Alberto Vargas
César Albarracín	...	Juan Chamorro
Víctor Hugo Carrizo	...	Teniente Pizarro
Virginia Innocenti	...	Marta / Maria Vargas
Juan Leyrado	...	Teniente Alurralde
Arturo Bonín	...	Doctor Prina
Jon Lucas	...	(voice)
Mario Chaparro
Tony Lestingi
Carlos Garmendia	...	(voice)
Lautaro Delgado
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Miguel Oscar Acuna
Marcos Damian Alias
Gabriel Casal

Storyline

Blessed By Fire is the story of two young men sent to fight the 1982 war in the Falkland Islands (or as they are known in Argentina, the Malvinas) who return home bearing the brutal scars of war. Twenty years after the war's end, journalist Esteban Leguizamón is informed that Alberto Vargas, one of the men he served with, has attempted to commit suicide after suffering from years of depression brought on by his experiences in the war. Esteban visits the comatose Vargas at the hospital, and in a series of extended flashbacks, revisits the scene of Argentina's "unwinnable war." Esteban and fellow soldiers Vargas and Juan are living in foxholes on the remote, windswept Falklands, battling hunger, boredom, abuse, and the deprivations of war as they await the arrival of British forces. A series of harrowing battle scenes with British forces ensue, and the Argentines realize the futility and violence of their mission. They're cannon fodder, overwhelmed, outnumbered, pawns in a futile ...

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Plot Keywords:

journalist | hospital | argentina | memory | friend | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | War

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Movie site

Country:

Argentina Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

8 September 2005 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

Blessed by Fire

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$775,186

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+ España, Gobierno de la Provincia de San Luis, Gobierno de la Provincia de Santa Cruz

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

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 General Belgrano was sunk. If Leguizamón was counting only the casualties on the Falklands themselves, his figure is roughly correct. Source: Wikipedia

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Goofs

When a British Hawker Harrier strafes Argentinian soldiers on a beach, there are no explosions. The Hawker Harriers deployed to the Falkland Islands War were equipped with 2 Royal Small Arms Factory 3.0 cm ADEN cannons, which fire explosive rounds as well as shot.

User Reviews

This is a sad epic movie, very emotional.

This epic movie is emotional and sad. Most war movies are about winners, but this one is exactly the opposite. I don't think that I have ever seen any movies made from Argentina, I hope that I can see more in the future.

Now, here are some of the problems of this movie. Some scenes seem to be too long, I lost a little interest in watching. For example, the night scene when they were running away from the British offense. There was no scenes about the British soldiers, so it seems as if they were just running away from nothing although it was quite bloody.

Scenes change from current time to the war time, it got a little confusing. Some of the scenes were too dark, i can't hardly see anything on my TV.

The condition which the soldiers have to live was horrible, if they had better equipment and food, they could have won the war. I feel sorry that Argentina lost this war. And it is probably interesting to see how each country calls that island. In China, that island is still named after the name Argentina uses.