The Official Story (1985) User Reviews

Director's Purpose

[gentendo · 8/10 · 12 October 2007]

I believe the filmmaker's purpose was to charge the viewer to ask the following questions: How far will I go in obtaining the truth of the world I live in for myself? Am I willing to make sacrifices and take risks in obtaining the truth? And, am I willing to suffer the opposition that will attempt to silence me in my journey? These questions are answered while the viewer lives vicariously through Alicia's own journey for the truth. Although the ending is ambiguous and the viewer never finds out whether Alicia obtains the truth of her daughter, it seemed to me implicit that she does. I believe that if the director had chosen (which thankfully he didn't) to extend the film a little longer, the viewer would have seen that Alicia consents in giving her daughter back to the elderly woman. I have four reasons for this, all which support the questions above.

1). Alicia is the type of woman who wants nothing but the truth and that anything less would torment her mind with guilt. She expresses this guilt to her priest, telling him that she doesn't deserve her daughter if the adoption isn't legal. The lighting during this sequence is dark and dismal—a directing choice that reflects the inner-darkness Alicia is experiencing.

2). It is implied through her conversation with the elderly woman that despite how much she loves her daughter, and, that to lose her would be a painful sacrifice, she would still stand for the truth and do what is right. And what is right the right choice? For Alicia, it is to give her daughter back to the rightful and secondary parent.

3). Her tenacity to exhaust her abusive husband in telling her the truth, despite getting beaten by him, demonstrates her willingness to suffer all types affliction in order to arrive at the truth. There is a particular shot that demonstrates even the husband's belief that the right thing to do is to give the daughter back. At the end of the film, after the husband has beaten up Alicia and is listening to his daughter on the phone, the camera begins to slowly dolly towards his face. The shot persists for a good minute or so, capturing a single tear falling from his cheek. This suggested to me that despite the husbands love for his daughter, he was beginning to feel that it wasn't right for them to keep their daughter after all.

4). After her husband storms out of the house refusing to listen to her and the elderly woman's case, the elderly woman asks Alicia, "Shall I expect a call from you tomorrow or shall I call?" The use of script development here through Alicia's willingness to initiate the phone call spoke volumes in suggesting that she truly believes her daughter is not lawfully hers. If she had said, "You call," it would have suggested that she was not only reluctant but also skeptical whether this woman's case was plausible.

Even the title of the film, an element of production design, seemed to suggest the quest for what is true. Given the Spanish rendering, "La Historia Oficial," which in English is interpreted, "The Official History," there is an interesting contrast shown between the words of the English rendering, "The Official Story," and its original title in Spanish. The difference is in the words "history" and "story". The word history seems to suggest facts—the truth of what really happened. On the other hand, the word story seems to suggest fables—the lies used to cover up the truth. Either way you look at it, Alicia's search for the official history (truth) or the official story (lie) regarding her daughter works as a powerful way in conveying what the central theme of the film is—what is the truth and what are the lies.

Overcoming the banality of evil, corruption in adoption

[AlaveWall · 9/10 · 16 July 2008]

La Historia Official is a well-made film about awakening from passive complicity in evil, in this case, forced adoption. The Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo were and are an inspiration to those who struggle to uncover and resist abuses in adoption practices, be they the enslaved Irish women of the Magdalen laundries or the many indigenous peoples who had children forcibly removed from homes to be adopted by whites. Most of adoption does not involve abduction, but to turn a blind eye to the fact that it does exist, is to be passively complicit, as was the protagonist in this film.

The scene in which the teacher realizes that tremendous evil has indeed been perpetrated, and that she may very well be the beneficiary of such evil, is staggering. Norma Aleandro is a talented enough actress that we believe her initial rejection of this revelation, and her gradual evolution from passive cohort to courageous seeker of the truth.

A film of shattering power

[howard.schumann · 24 March 2003]

In the powerful 1985 film The Official Story, Director Luis Puenzo tells the story of a teacher's awakening to conscience at the end of Argentina's "Dirty War" of the late 70s and early 80s. As in Pinochet's Chile, the military secret police sought to consolidate their power by routinely torturing and murdering students, political activists, opponents of the regime, and even expectant mothers. Many ended up as desaparecidos, people taken by the government and not returned. The film is about one mother's search for the truth about her adopted daughter and her discovery brings harsh political reality very close to home.

In The Official Story, Alicia (Norma Aleandro) lives a comfortable middle class life. She teaches History to high school students and enjoys a family that includes her well-to-do husband Roberto (Hector Alterio) and 5-year old adopted daughter Gaby (Analia Castro). Not used to asking questions, she believes whatever she has read in history books and is confused when one of her students tells her that "history is written by assassins." She sees the demonstrations of the "Mothers of Plaza de Mayo", a group seeking information about missing family members but remains uninvolved. When her friend Ana (Chunchuna Villafane) visits after living in exile for many years, however, she learns, in an intensely emotional scene, that Ana had been imprisoned and tortured by the police trying to locate her husband, a suspected "subversive".

Ana tells Alicia that many others had "disappeared" and that babies had been taken from their mothers and given to childless friends of the junta. Alicia begins to wonder if her own child was the daughter of a political victim and questions her husband but when he is evasive, she suspects that he may be hiding a dark secret. Although fearful at the prospect of losing Gaby, Alicia is determined to find out about her daughter's past and begins to search hospital records and government archives. Ultimately, she must confront her own responsibility in a climax of shattering force that underscores the tragedy of political ideologues who would rather destroy family solidarity than risk losing power.

a very important and well-made film

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 23 July 2005]

Unfortunately, few people outside of Argentina remember the bad old days of the late 1970s and early 80s and Argentina's military junta. During its reign, literally thousands of people just "disappeared"--never to be seen again. Any possible dissent was wiped out through torture, intimidation and murder. It was this climate of repression and ultra-nationalistic rhetoric that the fatal invasion of the Falklands was staged--ultimately leading to the ruin and collapse of the Argentinian government.

Now that I've spouted out all that stuff about the historical context for the movie, let's get to the film itself. The story begins with a rich and well-connected family (just how well-connected you find out much later in the story). They are about to celebrate the 5th birthday of their adopted daughter. However, unconfirmed stories about where many of these adopted babies came from begin to fall on the ears of our heroine. Alicia (Norma Aleandro) is horrified to hear that many adopted babies are probably those taken from these political prisoners that vanished while in police custody. When she brings these concerns to her husband, he ignores her and changes the subject--something he did repeatedly throughout the movie. However, she can't live a lie and MUST find out from where they adopted their daughter.

The acting is superb throughout the film as is the pacing--as she goes from a strict conformist to ultimately demanding to know more. The progression is NOT abrupt and it makes sense how it evolves thanks to excellent writing. Also, Ms. Aleandro's acting (as well as that of the supporting actors and actresses) is wonderful--so much that you feel yourself feeling what they are trying to portray. As a result, this movie will definitely get the tears flowing. Also, the final confrontation with her husband, though important, is a bit tough to watch (be forewarned).

FYI--this movie is rated R because of the intensity of the subject matter and some pretty horrible domestic violence towards the end of the movie. The movie should be okay for most teenagers to view.

All-time favorite

[jereco · 10/10 · 10 August 2003]

I cry each time I watch this film. (The scene with Norma Aleandro and the baby clothes) Always gets me. An American film-maker would have made a film about one of the "desaparecidos" (disappeared ones) - but Puenzo is too sharp for that - by making a film about one of the quietly complicit, he has indicted all of us who are aware that things aren't quite right in the world, but choose to ignore the fact...and do nothing. Devastating, political and yet personal. My all-time favorite film.

Setting records straight

[hurstmatte · 7/10 · 8 September 2004]

Luis Puenzo's 'La Historia Official' captures a moment in Argentine history from the perspective less common for it's home audience; the aristocracy. Inside the junta military (military rule) of Argentina from 1976-1983 there were many like Alecia Marnet, with their upper class stability and indifference to a rule that left them in power of their own destinies. Alecia is somewhat different in her work as a history teacher seemingly unaware of how history is written by the victors. Her subsequent change of heart parallels that of her country, without which change this film could never have made.

There are plenty of compelling stories within 'La Historia Official' that sensitively portray the atrocities suffered by the Argentines at the hand of their own rulers. When Alecia is told of the uncharged detention and torture of her high school friend in a first hand account could hardly believe that such horrors could be committed by those who helped her family build a good life. She dismisses her students' news articles and pleads for peaceful renewal in the country, even threatening to expel them for questioning the official history accounts. Alecia at first reacts in denial to these challenges to authority in protection of herself from feeling guilt and shame for having benefited from others' suffering. It is entirely necessary for her to take the experience personally, through finding her daughter's true identity, for Alecia to accept and then come to terms with her own and her nation's true identity. This psychodrama is furthered by her own husband's opposition to the truth; his definition of success is motivated only when he is recognized with respect. As Alecia finds her husband's own family cannot respect his work, and she in turn can no longer respect him for his deceit, she in turn becomes one of the people before Argentina frees itself from its fascist rulers.

There's much to love in any film made about the people like those who are making it. 'La Historia Official' may not represent anything distinctive technically from other films, but its story is a powerful tribute to its own country. The film however is entirely universal. Had the film taken place in fascist Spain or any other fascist ruled country, the only differences would probably be cultural and historical. Through Alecia we find the ability to learn the truth and rise in opposition within ourselves. 'La Historia Official' shows us the truth lay dormant within ourselves but should not be ignored for the sake of accepting the history we are told.

Haunting

[GregPerry · 10/10 · 16 April 2002]

Its hard to convey just how moving this movie is. Its absolutely haunting, I thought about this flick for days afterwards. I don't think it represents the experiences of many Argentines during the era of the juntas, but it clearly shows how awful those times were and why Argentines never want to return to that situation again.

The Official Story

[jboothmillard · 6/10 · 16 August 2014]

I found this Argentinian (Spanish language) film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, the title did not suggest anything particular to me, but the Academy Award win, plot description and of course the recommendation was enough for me to try it. Basically the period known as the Dirty War has concluded, in Buenos Aires lives high school history professor and well-to-do housewife Alicia Marnet de Ibáñez (Norma Aleandro) who is happily married to government agent and successful lawyer husband Roberto (Héctor Alterio), and together they have adopted daughter Gaby (Analia Castro). It is on the daughter's fifth birthday that Alicia becomes curious to know about Gaby's real parents, but her husband avoids the topic and tells her to ignore it, he obviously knows the official story of how their daughter came to be available for adoption. Alicia's longtime friend Ana (Chunchuna Villafañe) returns from exile, she explains how she was tortured and being held for having lived with a man labelled as subversive, and she tells of seeing children taken from their parents who are put in jail, Alicia wonders if Gaby's parents went through this also. Alicia searches for birth and heritage records of Gaby at a hospital, there she learns of an organisation searching for missing children, a woman there, Sara (Chela Ruíz), claims to recognise Gaby as her granddaughter, and says that her parents disappeared. Like other members of the Argentine upper class Alicia is not aware of a lot of killing and suffering has gone on in the country, her views are challenged by fellow teacher Benitez (Patricio Contreras) and some of the students, she does report a student, but Benitez protects him, the two teachers do eventually become friendly as Alicia's research comes together. Roberto meanwhile is stressing at work, with many of his colleagues disappearing, he is also confronted by Ana who she blames partly for her arrest, and he comes to blows with his liberal father and brother, and he is furious when Alicia brings Sara home to meet him. That evening Alicia surprises Roberto, telling him that Gaby is not home and saying "how does it feel not knowing where your child is?", she does tell him Gaby is at his mother's house, he becomes enraged and assaults her, this stops when the phone rings, it is Gaby singing a nursery rhyme to Roberto, Alicia meanwhile gets her purse and leaves her key as she walks out, the final shot is Gaby continuing to sing, whilst with her adopted grandparents. I will be honest that occasionally whilst watching this film I found it a little tricky to keep up with, probably because of the subtitles reading, I dozed at one point and had to rewind back, thankfully I did get the concept, I can see why it rated well and won the awards it did, it is an interesting story based on parenthood, with a mix of trust issues, politics and human rights, a watchable drama film. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and it was nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. Good!

A Beautiful But Dark Journey to Heartbreak

[mandy-1 · 10/10 · 28 July 2002]

This film unfolds so purposefully as if each frame has been chosen with exquisite care. From the lighting to the framing of each shot to the near perfect performances the viewer goes on a journey into the darker and darker mystery as a loving adoptive mother must ask "where did this precious child come from?" If you want to get an inkling of life in Argentina in 1985 and the true meaning of "los disaparacidos" (the disappeared ones) see this one.

Excellent for what it is

[=G= · 7/10 · 7 April 2003]

"The Official Story" plot appears in depth both on its IMDB.com home page and in user comments. A thumbnail, however, is: A bourgeois Buenos Aires high school history teacher and mother of an adopted 5 year old girl begins to suspect her daughter may have been born to one of Argentina's thousands of missing people (Los Desaparecidos) who disappeared (probably kidnapped, tortured, etc.) while the nation was in the grip of a junta (1976-1983). This Oscar winner is a very well directed and acted human drama with ominous rumbling political undercurrents which stays focused on Aleandro's sterling portrayal of the mother though it does raise the specter of tainted official history. Unfortunately the DVD I rented had VHS quality video and white subtitles with no outline (making them difficult to read on light backgrounds). Recommended for foreign film buffs and Spanish speakers into drama. (B)

The government vs the people

[lastliberal · 10/10 · 3 July 2007]

I could spend all day just listing the awards this film won. Besides the Best Foreign Film Oscar, it won 21 other awards and had an additional 3 nominations. It is rare to see a film win almost everything it was nominated for, but this film is just that powerful. The performance by Norma Aleandro, who won every award she was nominated for, save one, was so great that I am anxious to see that one performance that exceed hers.

This is Director Luis Puenzo's greatest work, a work that he wrote with Aída Bortnik. It is a powerful story of children stolen from families in Argentina and given to those who support the government. I couldn't help but think of the child protective system in this country, where the weight is heavily towards taking children and getting them adopted as soon as possible instead of trying to work with families to fix their problems. There isn't must difference between that and what was done in Argentina.

I am also reminded that the real heroes in the world are not those who wear body armor and have sophisticated weapons, but those who stand naked and march for justice. This happens over and over in South America, where we have supported military juntas that oppress the people.

This is a beautiful and powerful film. Look for it.

Argentina's Dirty Secret

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 14 March 2016]

After the end of the Dirty War, a high school teacher sets out to find out who the mother of her adopted daughter is.

Like many progressive actors and others in the country, the lead actress in the film, Norma Aleandro, was forced into exile. She traveled to Uruguay first and Spain later. She returned after the fall of the military government in 1983. Aleandro once said, "Alicia's personal search is also my nation's search for the truth about our history. The film is positive in the way it demonstrates that she can change her life despite all she is losing." Argentina's history is a dark one. It may not get the coverage of Nicaragua, El Salvador or Chile, but it had some of the same problems of unrest in the 20th century. In fact, few places in Central and South America seemed to have it easy, with dictators sprouting up all over. Some of them, sad to say, were put there and / or backed by the United States, something we as a nation have still not properly atoned for.

Whether by choice or not, director Luis Puenzo has remained largely an Argentine filmmaker. He did make an American film (or at least a film with American actors) in 1989, "Old Gringo", but then went back to Argentina. One wonders what the difference is that makes some directors go international and others go into relative obscurity outside their home countries.

Good movie, but has fatal flaws

[markdukesports · 5/10 · 8 April 2012]

First off, let me get this through that this movie is not a bad movie. The acting is fantastic and I could really tell the pain that the characters were going through during the movie. I also like the premise and how realistic the problems were.

However, for me there were two big problems that kind of ruined the movie for me. The first one is not that big but the second one really bugged me.

The first problem is how confusing the plot was to me. Maybe it's because the movie is in Spanish and I had to rely on the subtitles but I had trouble catching on to the plot. For me the movie sequence was like: Gabby is adopted-I wonder who her parents really are- I think I found her grandmother- Her parents may be political prisoners- No wait, they might not be her parents after all. This is just a summary, but I dislike how the movie constantly nullifies its progress. The second problem for me was how the entire movie was built up for us to find out who Gabby's parents are, but we never find out. That bothered me because I had spent two hours trying to figure out the plot and hang on to every word to find the answer, but it's never given. That just left me feeling empty.

Overall, this movie has a lot of great moments but what it doesn't give really takes away from the overall movie.

Extraordinary film about courage in the face of death

[diana_paul · 9 March 2004]

I saw this movie in my first-year Spanish class. I love all kinds of movies, both international and domestic. This is by far one of the best movies I have seen in the international field with particular focus on the character development of one woman who seems to have everything. In coming to terms with the truth of her lifestyle and the high price others have paid for her comfort, she becomes a heroine who must give up almost everything she has loved and felt identified who she is. This movie is both heartbreaking and reassuring for its audience. I highly recommend it as a thoughtful depiction of how ignoring politics can imply inadvertently becoming an accomplice.

When reality is revealed

[silvasiembra · 10/10 · 31 December 2019]

As a Father and Grandfather, I was moved with emotion by this film. The director and the actors portrayed this time in history perfectly. I was sadden to read that families still come together demanding answers from the Argentinian Government. These kinds of movies need to exist. They stimulate discussion to assure that justice exists in this world. This is an excellent movie to help with these necessary discussions. I'm glad I saw this film.

Best Picture of 1985, Bar None

[ScottAmundsen · 10/10 · 4 July 2011]

I don't often quibble with some of the odd things the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does (Grace Kelly's Best Actress win over Judy Garland in 1955 is a good example), but 1985's Best Picture winner is one of them. OUT OF Africa, uncharacteristically for a Sydney Pollack film, was a bloated and unbearably boring biopic of a woman who at the end of the day was just not that interesting, despite a valiant attempt on the part of Meryl Streep in the lead. If I had been given a vote, and had to choose only an American-made film, I would have chosen THE COLOR PURPLE.

But I digress. The best picture that I have ever seen that was made in 1985 was that year's winner for Best Foreign Language film: Luis Puenzo's extraordinary debut film LA HISTORIA OFICIAL, better known to the English-speaking world as THE OFFICIAL STORY. For a first film, the director's hand is remarkably sure here; he knows the characters and the territory, and his handling of the actors produces what in the theatre is often known as "magic."

The film stars Norma Aleandro (in a fierce, towering performance that should have earned her an Oscar) as Alicia Marnet de Ibañez, a history teacher at a Buenos Aires high school, married to a successful businessman (Hector Alterio), raising their adopted five-year-old daughter Gaby (Analia Castro), and living the good life, blissfully, and one suspects later on, perhaps deliberately, unaware of what is happening and what has happened to her country in recent years (the film takes place shortly after the "dirty war" in which many Argentinians were rounded up, imprisoned, tortured, and killed). At first glance it seems incredible that a history teacher could be so blind to recent events, but as one of her students observes early in the film, "History is written by assassins."

Alicia sends the student from the room. But a seed has been planted. She attends a school reunion (I am not sure if it is high school or college; I suspect the latter, but in the end it makes little difference) and is reunited with her old friend Ana (Chunchuna Villafañe, who also delivers an Oscar-worthy performance), who has been living abroad, in exile, for the past seven years.

Ana comes to Alicia's home for dinner; Alicia's husband Roberto is immediately suspicious and uneasy, but does his best to hide it. Later, after Roberto has gone to bed, the two women sit up talking and Ana reveals, in a devastating scene, the torture that she was subjected to because of her relationship with one of the "enemies of the state." During this confession, Ana lets slip that many of the torture victims were pregnant women whose babies were stolen from them and sold to wealthy couples in secret adoptions, to which Alicia reacts almost violently: "Why are you telling me this??"

Ana does not answer, but the seed that has been planted is starting to grow, and despite her love for her daughter, Alicia feels compelled to find out how her husband went about adopting the child.

The strength of her bond with Gaby is displayed in a long, silent scene in which Alicia takes from the closet shelf the clothing the baby arrived in and looks at it with tears streaming down her face. But what has been set in motion cannot be stopped.

I won't reveal any more. This is an exciting film, magnificently acted, written, and directed, and Aleandro's performance is one of the best pieces of work I have ever seen by any actor, male or female, and it is all the more remarkable because so much of it is internal. The camera lingers on Aleandro's face during key scenes as conflicting emotions flash by, one after the other, revealing both her inner turmoil and her resolve to discover the truth at any cost.

A winner all around. And it should have gotten the Oscar. For Best Picture for starters, and also for Aleandro and Villafañe.

The Regime From A New Angle

[Eumenides_0 · 7/10 · 10 October 2009]

The Official Story explores the crimes of the Argentine regime from an unusual perspective. Whereas movies of this nature like to give voice to guerrillas, journalists, the common man or innocent foreigners, Luis Puenzo's drama depicts the life of Alicia, the well-to-do wife of an army officer, Roberto. Evidently life is good for them; Alicia is a high school history teacher blissfully unaware of the crimes her happiness is built on.

But one day Alicia starts wandering about the origin of her daughter, Gaby: Roberto brought her home and Alicia always believed she came from a mother who didn't want the child or couldn't keep her. But what if Gaby is the child of a woman who was murdered by the regime? What if the mother is one of the many 'missing'? What if there is still family looking for the child? From this premise Luis Puenzo and his screenwriter Aída Bortnik – author of the La Tregua, another critically-admired Argentine movie – paint a portrait of an entire society coming to terms with their past and the truth.

I found the movie extremely slow, but not in the good way that Antonioni or Kubrick can be slow while marveling the viewer with unique camera work and cinematography. This is just a well-written drama without extraordinary visual feats, with strong performances from all the characters. Towards the end the movie starts picking up and the climax is unforgettable. Although I didn't love this movie as much as a I wanted – being a big fan of Argentine literature – I still recommend watching it for the conflict that is at the heart of the movie.

Political AND interesting

[mauricio-19 · 10/10 · 28 January 2001]

I love this movie.

I don't enjoy political movies in general, like the ones that Costa Gavras make. Usually they are so busy educating people on the issues that they forget the real point of a movie - to tell a good story.

The Official Story is an exception in the genre: it is well written, well acted, has characters that you can relate to... AND tells a story that helps you understand violence as committed by the state. It is moving, has a human dimension as opposed to epic and detached.

A perfect 10.

You don't know what you've got until it's gone...

[hikerhetav · 7/10 · 2 March 2016]

Well, I usually don't see much of the foreign language films but after viewing Oscars giving a special award to such great films, I almost got swept off at viewing few films. This one too was one of them where a viewer can't get delight in each scene after scene. But there might be impacts ringing to-and-fro after finishing the whole. The story is quite engaging related to societal issues waving around Argentinian people and their disappeared families. How would one react on losing someone close is what depicted unwaveringly.

This was the movie which made me cry at certain scenes. Some dialogs even made me numb. The power of this film lies in placing ourselves into the place of characters of the film. It derives the feelings inside us for how would we react when we are placed into situation of losing a very important thing of our life. Undoubtedly, this movie is the one which shows human emotions on some very realistic aspects of life. This film has also played some beautiful strokes in the field of analyzing history of Argentina. And that is what makes the film to watch with top determination.

an engaging infotainment with humanity unflaggingly glistening in its nucleus

[lasttimeisaw · 8/10 · 8 May 2017]

A searing political exposé situated in the immediate aftermath of Argentina's Dirty War (1976- 1983), director Luis Puenzo's second feature THE OFFICIAL STORY became the first Argentinian movie to snatch Oscar's BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE laurels.

In 1983, the seemingly perfect life of a middle-class high-school history teacher Alicia Ibáñez (Aleandro) starts to crack when she begins to suspect the birth parents of her adopted daughter Gaby (Castro, an elfin darling), now 5-year-old, might be victims of political persecutions during the military dictatorship. She is determined to find out the truth and inexorably clashes with her husband Roberto (Alterio), who is a well-off government representative and might be in the knowing from the very start.

Puenzo and his co-screenwriter Aída Bortnik import a limpid script to set Alicia to embark on a late-but-better-than-never realization of her country's buried horror which implausibly has been eluded by her until that point, as one of her colleagues Benítez (Contreras) jests that nothing is more gratifying than a guilty bourgeois woman.

What makes Alicia tick is the return of her best friend Ana (Villafañe) from abroad, during an escalatingly poignant two-hander from the two magnificent actresses, Ana confesses to her that she was subjected to torture by the secret police (she is an associate of a subversive) and was forced into exile. Ana's account jolts Alicia into facing up with that troubling question, at the same time, a subplot pertains to the rebellious polemic of Alicia's students (atrociously played by actors much maturer than high schoolers) also vouch for the progress on her conscience. When she finally meets Sara (Ruíz), possibly Gaby's biological grandmother, she bestirs herself with a final attempt to reason with her intransigent husband.

Apart from the film's polemical angle in cashing in on a topical powder keg, in retrospect, the film's more lingering sway is underlain by its less argumentative depiction of women's place in a typical patriarchal society, through our heroine, Alicia is an ordinary woman in every aspect, mostly hedged in her domestic remit, a mother and a wife, Roberto has never cared to ask anything about her job, as if it is just a hobbyhorse to keep her busy. During Roberto's apoplectic wrangle with his leftist father Jose (Battaglia) and brother Enrique (Arana), Alicia's total silence speaks volumes in that tableau vivant - women have no voice in politics (neither in religion, as glanced through Alicia's vain endeavor inside a confessional, belittled by a snotty man of God), they are subservient, ancillary and biddable, but, as a human being, every sane soul is endowed with the judgment of right and wrong, and Puenzo's sensible work pays the highest homage to that, which makes the ending incredibly uplifting albeit with such a small gesture, as it would happen in real life.

Puenzo assembles an ace cast, Villafañe, Battaglia, Ruíz are all bankable scene-stealers, but no one can upstage Norma Aleandro's pyrotechnics, which oozes heartfelt nuance to countervail a melodramatic milieu Alicia is entangled with and staunchly refuses any trace of ham. On the other hand, Héctor Alterio embodies Roberto, a mouthpiece of the junta, with repulsion-inducing exertion as the sole villain in the film, an outstanding feat to accomplish out of a less well-rounded character.

All in all, Puenzo's blunt cri-de-coeur is graced with a lyrical accompanying score and an encroaching camera-work as if it tries to delve as deep as possible into its characters' psyche, an engaging infotainment with humanity unflaggingly glistening in its nucleus.

Socialism propaganda

[gabrielsartori · 6/10 · 30 March 2019]

This film is ok, good, rating 6.

But if you pay attention you will realize that in all the scenes the socialist characters are kind and the capitalists are completely evil.

The Land of I-Don't-Remember

[richardchatten · 8/10 · 5 July 2019]

Adoption can be a harrowing business at the best of times, and the final scene of 'La Historia Oficial' probably represents The End of the Beginning rather than The Beginning of the End. The real drama almost certainly still lies ahead when sweet little moppet Ana discovers the reality about her parents; as teenaged Ann Blyth traumatically did thirty-five years earlier in the Goldwyn production 'Our Very Own' (1950).

Not as Good as People Say

[Mr. Film · 7/10 · 21 May 1999]

"The Official Story" won the Academy Award for best foreign film, but I do not believe it deserved it. The film is based in Argentina when the government dictatorship was making may people very angry, let us say. While public protests and outcries are at their peak, the mother of an adopted girl named Gaby, a child of a couple who was killed by the government, finds a woman who may well be her grandmother. The film follows a very melodramatic course as the mother and father prioritize.

Overall, the film is borderline good (I gave it a seven). The brooding mother, trying to figure things out about her daughter, brought little to the table in acting, in my opinion. I found the familiar relations between the father and his kin much more interesting than the slowly developing daughter conflict. There are better films dealing with similar topics, and if this film was made in 1986, "Ran" should have crushed it for best foreign film.

You don't need to be Argentinian to be touched by this movie

[Soledad-2 · 3 March 1999]

La Historia Oficial is an excellent movie. It is also the testimony of the suffering of the Argentinian people during the military dictatorship. But those who are not from Argentina, like myself, can very well be touched by this movie. I was observing the cruelty of the government and thought "my God, totalitarism is always the same, and no matter if the violation of human rights occurs in Argentina under the military regime, in Cuba under the Castro dictatorship, in Chile under Pinochet, in Europe during Hitler, people suffer the same and the least we can do is to feel compassion". A good lesson from this movie, generation after generation we shouldn't forget the victims. They deserve justice.