Review: Argentina,1985

 I have held back from watching this movie for a long time because of the animosity I possessed inside myself toward a few people from the country of the titled name, for personal reasons. I couldn’t regret it more as the minutes passed by when I finally started to watch it. Ricardo Darin is one of the most gifted actors on the planet and I have always had huge admiration for his body of work and that was enough for me to push myself to watch it. He never disappoints. By providing a riveting performance in one of the most harrowing, yet brilliantly told stories in recent times, he proves once again why he is regarded as one of the best in the world. Now, that's a "goat" from Argentina I can stand by.

"Argentina, 1985" is essentially a courtroom drama, sliced from its history, based on the trials followed by the dictatorship that terrorized them for close to a decade. Sometimes movies can go beyond being a means for entertainment and can educate you on things you have been ignorant of, or missed. This is one such movie and I'm glad they chose to make this one as it is an essential study of history as well as human nature and a well-documented study of one of the most disturbing cruelties mankind has witnessed.

The film runs close to two and a half hours but you will not feel it passing by. That’s the quality of a well-written, well-made, and well-acted movie. It tells the story of a man who is put in the middle of history as well as the dangers o of his nation’s fight against tyranny and the injustices against the oppressed and innocent masked as preserving order in society. The movie will get you immersed in it intriguingly and by the time climax comes around you’ll probably be cheering on, clapping or anything ecstatic, with teary eyes nonetheless. It has one of the best monologues, probably one of the best in the history of cinema and befittingly it falls upon Darin to deliver it, and boy, did he pack an emotional punch in its delivery? No prizes for the guesses there!

A very very strong contender for the biggest prize in the best international film category, indeed, one of the very best in recent times and definitely one of the best of the last year, if you want to feel the satisfaction of having watched a great movie, this one is for you!