Imagining Argentina (2003)

33% of critics liked it
(12 reviews)
67% of users liked it
(4,006 ratings)

Accomplished British screenwriter Christopher Hampton directs the political drama Imagining Argentina, based on the novel by Lawrence Thornton. Set during the unsettling disappearances in Buenos Aires during the dictatorship of the 1970s, the film involves theater director Carlos Rueda (Antonio… More Accomplished British screenwriter Christopher Hampton directs the political drama Imagining Argentina, based on the novel by Lawrence Thornton. Set during the unsettling disappearances in Buenos Aires during the dictatorship of the 1970s, the film involves theater director Carlos Rueda (Antonio Banderas) and his wife Cecilia (Emma Thompson). Shortly after Cecilia writes an editorial commentary questioning the mysterious abductions, she is herself abducted and taken into police custody. Soon Carlos develops the supernatural ability to see into the future and he imagines his wife meeting an awful fate during an escape attempt. To make matters worse, their teenage daughter Teresa (Leticia Dolera) is also kidnapped. Imagining Argentina was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2003 Venice Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 47 min.
Directed By: Christopher Hampton
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Jun 11, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Oct 11, 2005
Studio: Arenas Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
Despite its flaws, the film does the job in helping us imagine what that must be like for relatives and friends left behind.
David Stratton, Variety
It's sad to see a film which, despite fine work in the various craft departments, fails to succeed on the most basic level.
Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times
The concept takes magical realism to a reductive, overtly literal level, trivializing the subject and the people the film tries so hard to memorialize.
Bill Gibron, DVD Verdict
Gimmicky, pat, and just a tad too brutal at times, Imagining Argentina is a powerful statement rendered oddly ineffectual by a consistent desire to avoid controversy.
Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
Hampton's mixing of thriller and love story, cinematic coincidence and historical fact makes this film flawed but fascinating.
Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly
Like Life Is Beautiful before it, Imagining Argentina juxtaposes horrific images of torture and humiliation against gooey optimism and thinks it's saying something profound about human resilience in the process.
Andy Klein, Los Angeles CityBeat
...fidgety and incomplete, as though either poorly conceived or poorly re-edited after the fact.
Angie Errigo, Empire Magazine
Hampton makes a moving job of it, with top-notch cinematography and heartfelt performances.
James Christopher, Times [UK]
The power of the film is its roots in official truths which are already melting away.
Matthew Leyland, BBC
Well-intentioned but awkwardly executed.
Lewis Beale, Film Journal International
Honorable, but highly flawed, production.
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
It's maddening that the film is so weak, because there's a touching and seriously important story here that should have been told with power, honesty and humanity.

Read all 12 critic reviews

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Walter M

In "Imagining Argentina," Cecilia Rueda(Emma Thompson), a journalist, is snatched off the street by armed men in Buenos Aires in 1976. Eight weeks later, her husband Carlos(Antonio Banderas), a theater director, is still at a loss as to her disappearance. While he does his… More
In "Imagining Argentina," Cecilia Rueda(Emma Thompson), a journalist, is snatched off the street by armed men in Buenos Aires in 1976. Eight weeks later, her husband Carlos(Antonio Banderas), a theater director, is still at a loss as to her disappearance. While he does his best to take care of his teenaged daughter Teresa(Leticia Dolera) at home, at work things are falling apart as Enrico(Fernando Tielve), his leading man, wants to quit because his father has gone missing too. Carlos reassures him that things will be fine, as he also starts to sense the horrible truth behind his wife's disappearance. There are some things to admire about the otherwise unremarkable movie "Imagining Argentina," such as the performances from Emma Thompson and Antonio Banderas who underplays nicely but is still no Ricardo Darin. For the most part, writer-director Christopher Hampton gives the potentially intriguing material a pedestrian and heavy handed treatment. To start, the movie would have been better served if it had taken place after the military government left power when Carlos could have provided answers to long lingering mysteries with history at a safe distance. As it stands, what is he supposed to do except provide confirmation of the worst fears?(It just goes to prove that some things are best left to the imagination.) In fact, he only makes things worse. In the end, the individual stories matter little in the grand scheme of things, as the epitaph confirms that this was not an isolated situation. That may be so but also invoking the Holocaust is taking things a little too far.