Argentina, 1985

My only grudge is that the English dubbed version leaves the film curiously disembodied, shorn of an all-out heft and impact. It would have packed in a wallop and been better heard, understood, and heeded if it spoke in its forceful original language...

Justice, Argentina, 1985 suggests, isn’t a destination but a constant process.

Director Santiago Mitre takes a non-fussy docudrama approach and it’s the right move.

Though the dramatic atmosphere could hardly be denser, it’s also pierced by surprising shafts of comedy; there is courage to be had, Mitre reminds us, in preserving a lightness of heart.

Like a pair of old wingtips polished with wax, “Argentina, 1985” spins a notable piece of history into an impassioned courtroom drama flecked with quaint humor.

Apart from the moving testimonies of surviving victims, the movie’s power comes from the desperate needs for justice and to prevent this authoritarian, terrorist scourge from ever taking hold again.

Argentina, 1985 is what it has to be, a functional story of an extremely important historical event for the world and for Latin American history, which manages to move all the necessary fibers in any human being. [Full review in Spanish]

Argentina’s Oscar entrant is a timely reminder of the spirit of democracy.

It doesn’t only draw a line under the dictatorship, claiming Argentina for democracy, although it does that too. Above all, it is a bold declaration of the rights of human beings everywhere. It is also brilliant cinema.

A film that will charm you, movie you, enlighten you, and remind you that it’s never too late to fight for memoria, libertad y justicia.