Imagining Argentina (film)
Encyclopedia
Imagining Argentina is a 2003
film
directed and written by Christopher Hampton
. The movie was nominated for the "Golden Lion" award at the 2003 Venice Film Festival
. The film is adapted from an award-winning novel of the same title
by Lawrence Thornton
.
in 1970s Buenos Aires
, Argentina
, where the military government
is abducting those opposed to its rule. Cecilia, a dissident
journalist
, is kidnapped by the secret police
to join the ranks of the 'disappeared
'. Cecilia had earlier published a provocative article in her outrage over the disappearance of students protesting bus fares
.
As her husband Carlos, a theatre
director, begins to search frantically for her, he realizes that he has acquired psychic
power that enables him to predict the future. This not only puts him in high demand by those who have also lost a loved one, it helps Carlos to foresee what happens to his wife and other detainees.
At one point, Carlos visits the Naval Mechanics School
, the notorious torture centre.
The movie has graphic images of suffering such as the rape
and torture
scenes of Cecilia and her daughter Teresa.
The closing caption mentions that around 30,000 Argentines disappeared between 1976 and 1983.
In Order of Appearance:
Full cast by consulting Dutch FilmWorks
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed and written by Christopher Hampton
Christopher Hampton
Christopher James Hampton CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, screen writer and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of...
. The movie was nominated for the "Golden Lion" award at the 2003 Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
. The film is adapted from an award-winning novel of the same title
Imagining Argentina
Imagining Argentina is an award-winning novel by Lawrence Thornton, about the Dirty War in 1970s Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the military government is abducting those opposed to its rule...
by Lawrence Thornton
Lawrence Thornton
Lawrence A. Thornton is an American author best known for his first novel, Imagining Argentina, which won the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, the Shirley Collier Award from University of California, Los Angeles , the PEN American Center West Award for Best Novel and a nomination for a PEN/Faulkner...
.
Plot
The movie is set during the Dirty WarDirty War
The Dirty War was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected...
in 1970s Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, where the military government
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
is abducting those opposed to its rule. Cecilia, a dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, is kidnapped by the secret police
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
to join the ranks of the 'disappeared
Forced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
'. Cecilia had earlier published a provocative article in her outrage over the disappearance of students protesting bus fares
Night of the Pencils
The Night of the Pencils , was a series of kidnappings and forced disappearances, followed by the torture, rape, and murder of a number of young students during the last Argentine dictatorship...
.
As her husband Carlos, a theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
director, begins to search frantically for her, he realizes that he has acquired psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
power that enables him to predict the future. This not only puts him in high demand by those who have also lost a loved one, it helps Carlos to foresee what happens to his wife and other detainees.
At one point, Carlos visits the Naval Mechanics School
ESMA
The Navy Petty-Officers School of Mechanics , commonly referred to by its abbreviation ESMA, is a facility of the Argentine Navy that was employed as an illegal detention center during the dictatorial rule of the National Reorganization Process...
, the notorious torture centre.
The movie has graphic images of suffering such as the rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
scenes of Cecilia and her daughter Teresa.
The closing caption mentions that around 30,000 Argentines disappeared between 1976 and 1983.
Cast
- Carlos Rueda - Antonio BanderasAntonio BanderasJosé Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
- Cecilia Rueda - Emma ThompsonEmma ThompsonEmma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
- Teresa Rueda - Leticia DoleraLeticia Dolera-Work:Her career began with the series Al salir de clase , in which she played the role of Angela between 2000 and 2002....
- Esme Palomares - María CanalsMaria Canals BarreraMaría Canals Barrera is an American actress, voice actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Theresa Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place, Connie Torres in Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, and as the voice of Shayera Hol/Hawkgirl in Justice League and Justice League...
- Silvio Ayala - Rubén BladesRubén BladesRubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
In Order of Appearance:
- Eurydice - Irene Escolar
- Orfeo / Enrico - Fernando Tielve
- Pedro Agustin - Héctor Bordoni
- policeman 1 - Anthony Díaz Pérez
- policeman 2 - Luis Antonio RamosLuis Antonio RamosLuis Antonio Ramos is a Puerto Rican-born American actor who has been on and starred in various film and television shows such as Martin, Early Edition, New York Undercover, In The House, Friends, The Shield, CSI, and CSI: Miami.-See also:...
- Rubén Mendoza - Carlos Kaniowski
- Concepta Madrid - Stella Maris
- Octavio Marquez's grandmother - Concha Hidalgo
- Hannah Masson - Ana Garcia
- Victor Madrid - Horacio Obón
- Julia Obregon's mother - Amparo Valle
- Julia Obregon - Cielo Verano
- plaza mother 1 - Maria Nyddia Ursi
- plaza mother 2 - Elvira Villariño
- plaza mother 3 - Araceli Dvoskin
- plaza mother 4 - Susana Salerno
- plaza mother 5 - Anahí Martela
- Gustavo Santos - Kuno BeckerKuno BeckerEduardo Kuno Becker Paz is a Mexican actor who has worked in telenovelas, Mexican cinema and U.S. cinema, but is best known for his portrayal of Ruben Berrizabal in Soñadoras and Santiago Muñez in the football movie Goal! and following sequels.-Early years:Becker was born in Mexico City to Manuel...
- Church mother 1 - Pochi Ducasse
- chirch mother 2 - Alicia Palmes
- church mother 3 - Liz Balut
- nun 1 - Teresa Mejias
- nun 2 - Carola Noriega
- Lieutenant - Dan Trugman
- general Guzmán - Anton LesserAnton LesserAnton Lesser is a British actor. He attended Moseley Grammar School and the University of Liverpool before going to RADA in 1977 where he was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor of his year....
- tango dancer 1 - Vanesa Vélez
- tango dancer 2 - Andrés GonzálezAndrés GonzálezAndrés Felipe González Ramírez is a Colombian footballer. He currently plays for Junior de Barranquilla, as a central defender.-Football career:...
- Amos Sternberg - John WoodJohn Wood (English actor)John Wood, CBE was an English actor.-Biography:Wood was born in Derbyshire and studied law at Jesus College, Oxford where he was president of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. Changing to drama, Wood became known as a stage actor, appearing in numerous West End productions as well as on...
- Sara Sternberg - Claire BloomClaire BloomClaire Bloom is an English film and stage actress.-Early life:Bloom was born in the North London suburb of Finchley, the daughter of Elizabeth and Edward Max Blume, who worked in sales...
- Sasha - Marzenka Novak
- Duarte - Ernesto Hernández
- Pereira - Eusebio Lázaro
- prisoner - Vera Czemerinski
- Marta - Sara Fernandez
- nurse - María Borrego
- prison guard 1 - Leo Azamor
- prisson guard 2 - Rubén Laperuta
- Guzmán's daughter - Mariana Seligman
- prince Prospero - Alejandro Rivas
- children theatre player 1 - Miguel Antón
- children theatre player 2 - Celia Arias
- children theatre player 3 - Ana Armas
- children theatre player 4 - Ana Paula Cidón
- children theatre player 5 - Paris Galindo
- children theatre player 6 - Marcos Garcìa Tizón
- children theatre player 7 - Javier García Villaraco
- children theatre player 8 - Yaiza Garzón
- children theatre player 9 - Tania Tamara González
- children theatre player 10 - Eva Gutiérrez
- children theatre player 11 - Yamila Teresa Haro
- children theatre player 12 - Verónica Andrea Jiménez
- children theatre player 13 - Adaia López
- children theatre player 14 - Jesús Nebreda
- children theatre player 15 - Beatriz Rastrollo
- children theatre player 16 - Ana Senso
- children theatre player 17 - David Velduque
- Avrom Sternberg - Toti Glusman
- señora Madrigal - Debora Kors
- girl 1 - Debora Cuenca
- girl 2 - Camila Walker
- girl 3 - Martina Sasso
- girl 4 - Camila Sasso
- girl 5 - Sofía Briano
- girl 6 - Noelia Escobonson
- girl 7 - Denise Aristimuño
- girl 8 - Florencia Quiroles
- girl 9 - Eliana González
- interrogation officer - Gonzalo San Martín
- Diego Souza - Alejandro Ares
- Ernesto Souza - Abian Vainstein
- stallholder - Héctor Malamud
Full cast by consulting Dutch FilmWorks