Films about important historical moments are often marked by a heavy solemnity, a sometimes suffocating respectfulness that can make one forget that these events involved real people, human beings with passions and foibles. This is especially common when the subject matter is as dreadful as the 1970s-1980s military dictatorship in Argentina and its practice of "disappearing" — kidnapping, torturing, raping and killing — its own citizens.
Not so, "Argentina, 1985."
The new Spanish-language film from Amazon — Argentina's submission for the 2023 international feature Oscar — gives these crimes against humanity every ounce of weight they demand but never forgets the humanity of its characters. This is particularly true of its depiction of protagonist Julio Cesar Strassera, the prosecutor assigned the seemingly impossible task of holding to account the military leaders responsible for these atrocities.
