Argentina, 1985
Composite Score: 83.87
Starring: Ricardo Darín, Gina Mastronicola, Santiago Armas Estevarena, Alejandra Flechner, Gabriel Martínez Fernández, Norman Briski, and Peter Lanzini
Director: Santiago Mitre
Writers: Santiago Mitre and Mariano Llinás
Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Legal
MPAA Rating: R for language
Box Office: $905,893 worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Argentina, 1985 is Santiago Mitre’s historical legal drama about the Trial of the Juntas in Argentina’s history, following the investigation of the prosecutors, Julio Strassera and Luis Moreno Ocampo, and the course of the trial. The film stars Ricardo Darín and Peter Lanzini as its central stars, both of whom put on excellent performances as they portray this still-relevant historical narrative. The film won the Golden Globe for Best Non-English Language Picture and was nominated for the Oscar for Best International Feature. It has been celebrated for its timely themes of youth resistance to fascism/far-right ideology and bravery in the face of tyranny as well as for its excellent writing and quick pace, rivalling that of some of Sorkin’s best works.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
If you want a procedural drama or documentary-esque retelling of the Trial of the Juntas, Argentina, 1985 is not the film you are looking for on the subject. This is a pure legal drama, full of jargon, quick back-and-forths, and evidence gathering. Actual portrayals of the crimes are not depicted on-screen, and the most action you get is a brief car bomb explosion outside of the courthouse around the film’s halfway point. If you invest in the story of the trial and the accounts of the victims, the film still works fairly well as a legal thriller, but it’s not The Firm or SVU or anything like that. Additionally, though, with all of its attention to detail, the film still seeks to be a drama and create tension by exploring personal lives and playing intense music over various scenes, so don’t expect it to be pure documentary filmmaking with clear timelines and interviews with the real historical figures either. It’s a legal drama through and through, and that will please some audiences and turn others off – hopefully you know which boat you fall into before setting off on this voyage.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
As historical legal dramas go, I’d challenge you to find one quite so good as Argentina, 1985, not named The Social Network. In fact, the Argentinian film might have the added benefit of being further removed from its subject matter, so it can’t age as poorly in how it portrayed its central figures (not a real knock against Social Network, we just didn’t know Zuck was actually a lizard person when Sorkin wrote him as the quippiest tech bro since Tony Stark). This film excels at delivering a solid mix of high-volume, rapid-fire legalese conversations right next to its deeply personal and intimate looks at the terror orchestrated by the military junta that it puts on trial. Somehow, in that blend, the film never loses its tone or sense of direction, either – a testament to the writing of Mitre’s direction and his and Mariano Llinás’s writing. The film tells its story and sends its topical message of the young and the oppressed standing up to totalitarian/fascistic/entrenched right-wing regimes powerfully and effectively without losing any of its entertainment value in the process.
Part of what makes the film’s story and pacing work so well are the performances of the two men at the center of the prosecution – Darín as the elder Strassera and Lanzini as the younger Moreno Ocampo. Both men play their roles perfectly. I feel like every Argentinian film I talk about on the blog gets a mention for Darín’s exceptional acting, and Argentina, 1985 is no different. He plays the veteran lawyer with a level of professional drive and purpose, blunted by his unspoken experiences of rejection and feelings of hesitancy about the actual efficacy of his work. His development from avoidant defeatist to the lawyer who delivers the closing statements that elicit a standing ovation at the film’s end never feels forced or unchoreographed – he fulfills the role put down for him in the script to a “t”. Likewise, Lanzini as his younger counterpart has plenty to do as the fiery activist, seeking to break from his family’s militaristic past without losing them in the process. His privilege conflicts with his passion for the working class and his decision to prosecute the juntas in a way that remains poignant even in modern political discourse. It’s an honest portrayal that feels so real because of how familiar it really is.
Both of the film’s leading actors help tell the story that Argentina, 1985’s script so excellently seeks to portray, reminding us of the historical violence of fascism and the activism that is necessary to keep it from returning to the mainstream in Western political culture, making the Argentinian film truly one of the Greatest Films of All Time. Its place as a legal drama might keep it from making it into some people’s watchlists, but they’ll be missing out on some great dialogue, performances, and storytelling in this award-nominee. It is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video for anyone interested in checking it out.
