Film Review: ARGENTINA, 1985 (2022): Lawyers Take On a Historic Case in a Tense, Well-Acted Dramatic Film

Argentina, 1985 Review

Argentina, 1985 (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Santiago Mitre, written by Mariano Llinas, Martin Mauregui and Santiago Mitre and starring Ricardo Darin, Peter Lanzani, Norman Briski, Laura Paredes, Susana Pampin, Francisco Bertin, Carlos Portaluppi, Alejo Garcia Pintos and Alejandra Flechner.

Filmmaker Santiago Mitre tells a very powerful story in a conventional but effective way in the rousing courtroom drama, Argentina, 1985. Ricardo Darin commands the attention of the viewer at all times playing Julio Strassera, a government lawyer who finds himself confronted with a seemingly impossible case that he will have to do everything in his power to try to win. In 1983 as dictatorship ended in Argentina, there was still the matter of many citizen tortures, murders and disappearances as nine military chiefs were under investigation. This film is about a trial but plays much more interestingly than your basic courtroom drama with Darin turning in a top notch lead performance that carries the film towards victory.

This film positions Strassera and his young legal team in a battle that will be an uphill one, for sure. Strassera will have to look over his shoulder everywhere he goes and walk on egg shells to try to make this groundbreaking case a worthwhile one for him and his team. Peter Lanzani serves as Luis Moreno Ocampo, the deputy prosecutor who joins forces with Strassera to try to achieve justice once and for all for the wrongs that have been committed in the past. Darin and Lanzani play off each other well and are easy to root for in their high-profile roles in the movie.

One scene stands out, in particular, in the very well paced drama, Argentina, 1985. That scene involves the testimony of a woman named Adriana (a terrific Laura Paredes) who found herself kidnapped by the junta, and was considerably abused while she was pregnant. This scene will move the audience to tears and is expertly acted. Paredes is heart-wrenching to watch and her turn leaps off the screen making it easy to feel compassion for her situation.

Mitre’s film is told in a way that will feel familiar to some viewers. It’s a courtroom drama that is told in a conventional way but what is occurring in the picture is nevertheless fascinating to watch. While the dramatic structure of the picture is definitely to be commended, the movie would be a lot less terrific if not for the performance of Darin who takes this role and makes it his own.

Strassera’s family is sympathetically portrayed to the viewer and the character is a family man who has been given a case that carries more weight than anything he’s ever encountered before. Strassera even asks his young son to help him see if some characters in the plot are up to no good. There is some complexity here within the story as the government has changed considerably over the past couple of years and Strassera must confront what is just in order to make certain people be held accountable for what they have done in the past.

There are some fine performances here other than Darin who does own the film whenever he appears on screen. Lanzani capably turns in remarkably nuanced work. Carlos Portaluppi ably portrays the head of the court of appeals and Norman Briski also makes an impact in his crucial role in the film as Alberto Ruso. Briski turns in a deeply sentimental turn in a picture full of solid, complex performances.

As professionals with the odds stacked against them, Darin and Lanzani bring the requisite humanity to their respective characters making it easy to sympathize with them and want to see them triumph. Argentina, 1985 would be a lot less compelling, however, without Darin’s closing statement in court which clearly brings the points of the movie into full view. There has to be accountability and “no more” unnecessary violence. This movie is surely one of the most powerful recent presentations of how the past can try to be righted in the future by holding those responsible accountable. This is a film that is well worth seeing with quite a few unforgettable scenes.

Rating: 8.5/10

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