Matthew Desmond
Staff Writer and Translator
“Argentina 1985” is an Academy Award-nominated movie based on a prosecutor’s attempt to hold the country’s military leaders accountable for atrocities committed during military rule. The film focuses on Julio Strassera, a prosecutor racing against time to compile evidence. He is hampered by authorities who are uncooperative at best and often hostile. So many attorneys support the military that Strassera is forced to use an inexperienced assistant, and their research team is made up of young law students.
Throughout the movie, the team also faces threats of violence. The movie effectively portrays the team’s apparent paranoia about being followed and threatened. The team’s fear seems reasonable when Strassera’s young son finds a threatening letter on official navy stationery with a bullet in their apartment.
Ricardo Darin portrays Strassera with a mix of idealism and fatalism. He is not easy to work with. He initially calls his assistant by the wrong name. He clearly knows it but behaves this way to put him in his place. He keeps his wife at a distance, and the viewer does not know if he does this because he does not respect her, or he is trying to protect her from knowing how dangerous his work is.
During the trial, witnesses give testimony about their abduction and torture. Some give testimony about their sons or daughters being abducted and never seen again. Some of this testimony is very difficult to watch. However, the movie handles it tactfully. The director focuses on the faces of the witnesses and, occasionally, on the faces of the judges as they listen. It is all the more powerful, because the viewer has to imagine what the victims are describing. Despite the dark and serious subject, the movie has moments of humor and cheerfulness. When Strassera is going through a list of potential attorneys, he and his friend take turns rating them as “fascist”, “really fascist”, and “super fascist.” When he has to turn to less experienced help, Strassera is conducting interviews for his team. Each subject is comically less experienced than the last.
“Argentina 1985” shows how difficult it is to fight authority. Strassera knows that there are two trials going on; one which is conducted in front of the judges and one which is done for the people of Argentina. The film uses the assistant prosecutor’s mother as a proxy for a part of that public. Strassera believes that they will never change her opinion, because she comes from a military family, and she supports the military unquestioningly. The rest of the public is portrayed through showing people watching the news. At one point, Strassera is watching a general being interviewed on television. In anger, he turns off the set and goes out on the balcony of his apartment. From there, he can see television after television turned to the same show. A turning point in the movie occurs after the most horrific testimony. The young prosecutor’s mother calls him and admits that what the generals did was evil. Strassera and his team get a feeling that they are accomplishing part of what they want to do.
It is not giving away the ending to say that the verdict is mixed. The last scene shows Strassera right after the trial, at his typewriter, still working. The credits show actual photos of the prosecution team. Any thought the viewer had that the film took liberties with depicting the prosecution team as young are dispelled. They look remarkably like the actors who portrayed them.
“Argentina 1985” is nominated for an Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. It is worth seeing if you just want to see an entertaining movie. However, there are also lessons to be learned about the importance of holding powerful people accountable. The verdict might not exactly reflect true justice, but justice is still worth pursuing. Argentina 1985 is available on Amazon Prime.
