Very solid Argentine depiction of the 1985 trials of members of the military junta.
Directed by Santiago Mitre, the film follows the work of Julio Cesar Strassera, the prosecutor who had to gather together a team of young inexperienced investigators to get evidence and testimony of the genocide committed by the military.
We see the pressure they were under both for time and with threats from those in society who did not agree with their actions. The film then shows the trial and reports on the sentences given.
Ricardo Darín composes another excellent character as the unprepossessing Strassera who himself was accused of doing nothing during the dictatorship.
Peter Lanzani also shines as up and coming lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo who has gone on to have an international career in human rights law.
Alejandra Fleichner as Strassera’s wife and Laura Paredes as a victim who gives testimony also deserve a mention.
So too, the screenplay by Mitre, Mariano Llinás and Martin Mauregui.
This film won’t go down as being innovative but is a correct and sensitive portrayal of legal actions that took courage and remind us that in a healthy democracy, the judicial institutions must be able to perform their duties independently and well.
Although we might feel that this is yet another film on the same era and topic from Argentina, you can never have too many to remind people how easy it is for certain groups to suspend or distort the performance of justice in a country and the respect for human rights.
4 stars plus
passionfilm 