The Official Story (1985)

1895-1999
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Reza
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Post by Reza »

Absolutely absurd that Aleandro was not nominated.
Hustler
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Post by Hustler »

flipp525 wrote:For anyone interested in catching it, The Official Story, which won the 1985 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and features Norma Aleandro's fantastically harrowing performance, is playing on FLIXe starting at 4:15pm. Definitely worth seeing if you haven't already.
For Those who enjoyed The Official Story I want to recommend you a current film related to the same subject, "Lamb of God" directed by Lucía Cedrón.
flipp525
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Post by flipp525 »

For anyone interested in catching it, The Official Story, which won the 1985 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and features Norma Aleandro's fantastically harrowing performance, is playing on FLIXe starting at 4:15pm. Definitely worth seeing if you haven't already.



Edited By flipp525 on 1211742992
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
flipp525
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Post by flipp525 »

THE OFFICIAL STORY (1985)

cast: Norma Aleandro, Héctor Alterio, Chunchuna Villafañe, Analia Castro, Hugo Arana; dir. Luis Puenzo

The Official Story (1985) tells the tale of a middle-class high school history teacher named Alicia Ibariz (Norma Aleandro) who begins to suspect that her adopted five-year-old daughter, Gaby, might've been a child of two desaparacidos ("the disappeared ones") -- victims of political abductions conducted by the military junta in Argentina in the late 1970's/early 80's. The film tracks Anna's journey from a state of blissful ignorance to one of guilt, complicity, and political awareness which is seamlessly juxtaposed against the backdrop of country waking from a long tortuous torpor. A visit from a friend (Chunchuna Villafañe) sets off a painful investigation into her daughter's background which unearths a long-hidden web of lies and wrongdoing.

New York Film Critics Circle and Cannes Film Festival (tied with Cher for Mask) Best Actress winner Norma Aleandro delivers a powerhouse performance deserving of every accolade she received that year. She infuses Alicia with a deep level of understanding and compassion with just the right amount of middle-class obliviousness. The slow-churning realization that she and her husband, Roberto (played by the menacing Héctor Alterio) might be part of a larger blanket crime is heartbreaking to watch. The scene where she's folding Gaby's baby clothes is extremely touching, yet foreboding.

The film's final scene is devastating, shocking, brutal and ultimately selfless-- all sentiments which seem to sum up the actions of the plot and historical background of this film. The Official Story is one of the best movies of the 80's and especially apropos for today. The lesson that those who sit back and watch people being persecuted (whether physically, mentally or with bigoted verbal assaults) are just as guilty as those actually committing the acts is important today.




Edited By flipp525 on 1174595582
"The mantle of spinsterhood was definitely in her shoulders. She was twenty five and looked it."

-Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
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