In his first comedy feature film, Santiago Miter achieves what many directors and comedians see as impossible: find a narrative in which political satire can be made without falling into racist and classist jokes. The director had already demonstrated his knack for building compelling narratives in drama and suspense, but Argentina, 1985 makes it clear that his talents can be expanded to comedy.
In an interview for the Los Angeles Times, Miter stated without hesitation that Argentina, 1985 It is a film about democracy, “about how it is built after such a great tragedy or such a painful episode in a country such as the dictatorship and, above all, a dictatorship as bloody as Argentina’s was.” The film tells the historical trial in Argentina in which the repressors of the dictatorship finally served their sentences for their heinous acts.
In that same talk, Miter confessed his goal with this new project: to deliver an exciting film. More than making us writhe with emotion or make us cry with laughter, he sought a deep emotional connection through passion.
Passion is a universal feeling and it really makes us live it for a large part of the film. In the movie theater there were Argentine spectators who cried during the celebration scenes. But there were also Mexicans with the same passionate feeling for justice, almost as if it were their own. Argentina, 1985 Create that empathy.
This film is very similar in tone to Luis Estrada’s political satire. Its success is also largely due to the participation of Ricardo Darín. However, Santiago Miter had the mission of making comedy of an event in which there were thousands of human rights violations such as torture, murder and rape in a respectful way. And just as he planned, he inserted clever comedy into judicious scenes to avoid disrespect.
There is no public more demanding than the one who experienced what was portrayed firsthand, and the Argentine audience has received this film extraordinarily. Even the Argentine Film Academy has already selected it to nominate it as Best International Film at the next Oscar Awards.
Argentina, 1985 It is in theaters from October 14 and will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on October 21.
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Susana Guzman De la O Writing and cinema are my greatest loves. I admire Tarkovsky, but I cry every time I see Up.
