I caught this film on IFC in Theaters on cable.
True story of what happened in Argentina in 1977 when a goalie on a soccer team was kidnapped by the secret police and thrown into a secret prison and tortured for information he didn't have.
Good story of imprisonment and escape by several young men being held and tortured by the military government. The early portion of the film is a terrifying portrait of a government out of control and how in the process it leaves everyone feeling frightened (I will refrain from making Bush comparisons). Once in the prison, actually a secluded old house, we watch as the men there are repeatedly tortured for information concerning a terrorist attack. Its clear from many conversations that the captors want names even though as one prisoner says he has no names to give them. Its a damning portrait of the uselessness of torture, since its clear you may just get a confession to make the pain stop. Unfortunately there is a sameness to it all that grows tiresome, it wears away the tension from the situation. I'm sure the tension never went away from the men being held but for me sitting in my seat watching I just wanted them to get on with it.
The final portion of the film is the actual escape. Its a good piece of film making however there isn't as much fear as there should be and thats to do with the title of the film (it tells us what happens), the opening text (which tells us how we know the story) and in my case the marketing and reviews, which gave away way too much information.(and in all fairness I've probably said too much myself). I wish I didn't know what I had been told about and by the film so that the final portion of the film would have played so much tenser.
6 out of 10 (though add a few more if you manage not to know anything about the actual events)
True story of what happened in Argentina in 1977 when a goalie on a soccer team was kidnapped by the secret police and thrown into a secret prison and tortured for information he didn't have.
Good story of imprisonment and escape by several young men being held and tortured by the military government. The early portion of the film is a terrifying portrait of a government out of control and how in the process it leaves everyone feeling frightened (I will refrain from making Bush comparisons). Once in the prison, actually a secluded old house, we watch as the men there are repeatedly tortured for information concerning a terrorist attack. Its clear from many conversations that the captors want names even though as one prisoner says he has no names to give them. Its a damning portrait of the uselessness of torture, since its clear you may just get a confession to make the pain stop. Unfortunately there is a sameness to it all that grows tiresome, it wears away the tension from the situation. I'm sure the tension never went away from the men being held but for me sitting in my seat watching I just wanted them to get on with it.
The final portion of the film is the actual escape. Its a good piece of film making however there isn't as much fear as there should be and thats to do with the title of the film (it tells us what happens), the opening text (which tells us how we know the story) and in my case the marketing and reviews, which gave away way too much information.(and in all fairness I've probably said too much myself). I wish I didn't know what I had been told about and by the film so that the final portion of the film would have played so much tenser.
6 out of 10 (though add a few more if you manage not to know anything about the actual events)