Argentina 66 Medals
Argentinian cinema is not one immediately recognised around the world. Ask anyone about the cinema of its rather large neighbour, Brazil, and 9 out of 10 people have at the very least seen City of God. Ask about Argentinas cinema, and I imagine many blank faces would be drawn. I consider myself to be very weak in this department; in fact, my face would be a mixture of blank and crumpled-up confused one as I try to think about the films I have seen. The problem seems to be in the exporting and distribution of these films with many films hard to purchase for the casual viewer. However, with the recent win in the Academy Awards for The Secret In Their Eyes (Juan Jose Campanella, 2009), perhaps this is about to change. Bronze The Official Story (Luis Puenzo, 1985)
Being the first ever Latin American film to win the best foreign language film at the Oscars is no mean feat. Argentina has the only two winners of the award by a Latin American film and it thoroughly deserves its award, Puenzo has created an extremely emotional story coming from a political backdrop which is immensely important in the countrys history. Set in the mid-1970s at a time when the right-wing dictatorship had begun to take a firm hold on the country, it tells the story of Alicia and Roberto who are a very middle class family with an adopted daughter Gaby. In this period of revolutionary Argentina many children became victim to Desaparecidos, a forced disappearance which could mean abduction, kidnapping and so on. With the right-wing government growing in stature, Alicia begins to believe that her adopted daughter was one of those children that were taken away from their mother at an early age. Delving deeper into the politics of her country, she begins to discover that her sheltered middle class life has hidden her from the shocking realities of life in Argentina. The glue to this film is the touching internal performance by Norma Aleandro, who plays Anita. The struggle as she sheds the shelter of her life is painful to watch, a pain that is so authentic and real that you will be willing to endure it. Silver The Motorcycle Diaries (Walter Salles, 2004)
One of the things that always fascinate me is that the everyday man always believes they know Che Guevara. Ask the majority of people and they will tell you he was a Cuban revolutionary. They would be right but they would probably not realise that he was born in Argentina and was a medical student in Buenos Aires. And this is where the film adaptation of Ches memoirs, The Motorcycle Diaries begins. Leaving Buenos Aires with his friend Alberto, they head on a trip across the lands of South America with the ultimate goal of working at a leper colony in Peru. The cinematography is beautiful, breathing in all of South Americas stunning landscapes. With a lot of cinematic grandeur, Salles does amazingly well to give emotional depth to his characters, who do not get lost in amongst the beauty. To give a sense of realism, Salles uses a mixture of 16mm and 35mm, which allows the director and his crew to travel the same roads as Che himself. The development of Che Guevara into the revolutionary he became is a gradual one, played exceptionally by Gael Garcia Bernal. He breathes emotion and meaning into a universal persona whom is more known for being a T-shirt graphic in the modern world. In Argentina, Che may not be the most popular figure with his iconic status being used in a bloody and brutal revolution that brought the country a right wing dictatorship in the 1970s. However, Walter Salles film is important in understanding the morals and motivations of the Argentine Che who will forever be a globally recognised figure. Gold Nine Queens (Fabian Bielinsky, 2000)
This film is probably one of Argentinas most popular film exports. Having played at many overseas festivals, Nine Queens has accrued a kind of cult following. So much so that an independent arm of Warner Bros. decided that a remake was needed. Please do try and avoid Criminal, which while admirable in its attempt, is not on par with this absolute gem. A crime thriller revolving around two con artists who form a tense friendship while trying to sell counterfeit stamps to a businessman. Nine Queens has many twists and turns all performed flawlessly by a brilliant cast. Ricardo Darin is probably one of Argentinas most renowned actors of all time, and his marvellous performance here is reason to seek out more of his films. Nine Queens will probably go down as the film that reignited Argentinas presence on the world stage and it thoroughly deserves that reputation.