"You're going to be the prosecutor at the most important trial in Argentina's history."
Argentina, 1985 is a 2022 Argentine-American historical drama Based on a True Story film produced and directed by Santiago Mitre and written by Mitre and Mariano Llinás. It stars Ricardo Darín, Peter Lanzani, Alejandra Flechner, and Norman Briski.
Buenos Aires, 1984. After being ruled by a military junta for seven years in what is euphemistically called the National Reorganization Process, Argentina is under a democratic government once more. The newly-elected President, Raúl Alfonsín, declares his intention to put the military junta that ruled with an iron fist on trial, as they are suspected of having kidnapped, tortured, and murdered at least 8,000 and possibly as many as 30,000 people, many who remain missing to this day.
Despite the efforts of the military to keep this trial under their jurisdiction, the government decides to send the case to a civilian court. Julio César Strassera is named Chief Prosecutor. However, sentencing the nine highest ranking officials in the Argentine Armed Forces is not an easy task; with most people and institutions either having collaborated with the regime, agreeing with their actions, or being deathly afraid of any repercussions, Strassera will have to trust in the skills of his assistant, Luis Moreno Ocampo, and a group of inexperienced lawyers and paralegals to find evidence of the dictatorship's systematic efforts to Unperson thousands.
This film provides examples of:
- The '80s: Since it's set in Buenos Aires between 1984 and 1985, clothes and hairstyles, cars and things no longer in use (such as public payphones and Walkmans) can be seen in the film. There are also references to pop culture and people, such as Martin Karadagian and The Atom Ant Show.
- And the Adventure Continues: The film ends with Strassera appealing the ruling of the court absolving some of the members of the junta, implying the search for justice against the crimes of the dictatorship will continue.
- Amoral Attorney: The Army of Lawyers who defend the military junta clearly believe in their innocence and that they were simply fighting a war against the guerrillas.
- Army of Lawyers: There are 9 defendants, therefore their team of lawyers is numerous. The prosecution team is likewise quite extensive, though much less organized.
- Baby Be Mine: 'Desaparecidas' who were pregnant at the time of their kidnapping were forced to give birth and their children were given to rich families connected to the military.
- Bittersweet Ending: Videla and Massera were condemned to life imprisonment, but some of the officers got very minor sentences and others even got absolved. Even then, those condemned will be eventually pardoned by President Menem in 1990. Nevertheless, a milestone in judicial history has been achieved, as military officers were put on trial and condemned for their crimes by civilian judges. On the brighter side, some of the pardoned officers (like Videla) will be put on trial again and sentenced in the following years.
- Black Sheep: Moreno Ocampo's great-grandfather was Argentina's first army commander, so he comes from one of the first military families of the country. Nevertheless, he's putting a military junta on trial . This earns him the scorn of his family (his uncle is a colonel and his mum goes to church with Videla).
- Break-In Threat: As the trial draws to a close, Strassera and his family come back home to find a bullet and a letter saying that he will be executed in 48 hours on their hallway table.
- Churchgoing Villain: Lieutenant-General Jorge Rafael Videla remained a devout Catholic until his death. Luis's mother even went to church with him. He's also shown reading the Bible as Strassera gives his closing argument.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The testimonies of the people who survived the ordeal of being kidnapped are harrowing. Rape, water and electric torture, and abuse of all kinds was exerted on these people. Nobody was spared, not even pregnant women.
- Crusading Lawyer: Luis Moreno Ocampo and (most of) Strassera's team believe that the junta needs to be put on trial and sentenced, to honour the memory of the thousands of disappeared people.
- Deadpan Snarker: Strassera is usually very even-keeled, and his sarcastic comments seem to be a great tool to help him let off steam.Luis: What did he mean by "carefully"?Strassera: *on the toilet* Like I just wiped my ass, "carefully".
- Electric Torture: The 'picana eléctrica' is regrettably an Argentinian invention. Throughout Latin America, dictatorships loved using this means of torture.
- Everybody Smokes: Especially Strassera. He's even shown giving a smoke to his teenage daughter (implied to be in her last year at school).
- Expecting Someone Taller: Strassera remarks that Videla is actually kinda short. His friend replies "everyone looks more impressive in a uniform and boots."
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Videla sports a pair of big, shiny glasses.
- The Ghost: The Argentine President at the time, Raúl Alfonsín, is alluded to several times across the movie. He even has a meeting with Strassera at some point. However, he is not shown on screen or even heard.
- Happily Ever Before: While it's addressed in the epilogue, the high-ranking officers condemned will be eventually pardoned by President Carlos Menem in 1990, years after the movie ends. Some of them (including Videla) were put on trial again and condemned after the pardon laws were declared unconstitutional in the 2000s, however.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Italo Luder, president of the Senate during Isabel Peron's government and Peronist candidate for president in 1983, is presented as a mere witness in the trial. In reality, he also supported self-pardoning laws signed by the members of the junta.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Antonio Troccoli, Minister of Interior of President Alfonsin. In the film, he is portrayed as a military apologist, blaming the victims and defending the military from the accusations. In reality, while he was a moderate connected with the military, he not only supported the creation of the CONADEP and the trial against the military officers but also protected Strassera and his crew from threats. In addition, the speech was meant to calm the Armed Forces after several bomb threats were sent to the television studio since the content of the show was seen as extremely controversial at the time, with the fears of a coup still present. Even his position of moral equivalence between the crimes of the military and the crimes of the guerrilla (the "Two Demons" theory) was the mainstream at the time, being present in the Nunca Mas report.
- I Did What I Had to Do: The members of the junta call the Process "a war" they had to wage against the guerillas, so their actions were justified to keep Argentina safe.
- Just Following Orders: The previously democractic government (lead by Juan Domingo Perón's second wife) had already given orders to "annhiliate the guerrillas". Of course this was given as an excuse during the trial.
- Just Giving Orders: Furthermore, the higher ranking officials would simply say that their subordinates had committed excesses which they hadn't been able to predict or control.
- Living Prop: The members of the Junta are largely silent throughout their trial. Most only state their name when offering their plea. As the first dictator, only Videla gets any real focus.
- Malicious Misnaming: Before Strassera warms up to Luis, he mispronounces his last name (Moreno Ocampo) as Molina Ocampo (a famous painter.) Eventually, he gets it right.
- Momma's Boy: One indication of Luis's youth and inexperience is how preoccupied he is with his conservative mothers's views of him and of the trial. He attempts to justify his preoccupation as a strategy for gauging the popular opinion of the trial, which will be needed to ensure its legitimacy, but Strassera points out that his mother is more sympathetic to the junta than most of the country.
- Moral Event Horizon: In-Universe. When Luis's mother hears the testimony by a pregnant woman who was forced to give birth while handcuffed and blindfolded, wasn't given her baby after it was born (which was dangling from its cord for hours), and then made to clean a room while naked and laughed at, she is horrified and accepts the junta has to be in prison.
- Pompous Political Pundit: Bernardo Neustadt and his popular Tiempo Nuevo talk show is featured. Neustadt, who was openly in favour of the junta, grills Luis in their interview.
- Race Against the Clock: Strassera and his team have only four months to collect as much evidence as possible.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The young lawyers and paralegals Strassera leads is a good example.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: the women who give testimony don't shy away from saying they were raped. In the CONADEP's "Nunca Más" there's even mention of live rats being used to torture and rape.
- Real Footage Re-creation: The Trial is painstakingly recreated, and some of the actors portraying both the protagonists and the antagonists bear a remarkable resemblance to their real-life counterparts, with some footage from the trial being cut in.
- Real-Person Epilogue: After the end of the movie, we are shown real pictures of Strassera, Moreno Ocampo, their team, as well as footage of the trial.
- Rich Kid Turned Social Activist: Luis comes from a well-off military family with a ton of connections to the same Junta he is seeking to prosecute.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The film is filled with happy-go-lucky pop hits of the Eighties... alongside graphic descriptions of crimes committed by the Junta against their own people.
- Take a Third Option: Strassera knows that he can't use lawyers from his own prosecutor's office, as it's a mixture of fascist sympathisers and those who are still afraid of the repercussions of the trial. Moreno knows they can't use outside experienced lawyers who have leftist sympathies, as this will alienate the middle classes and the army as a witch hunt. So they decide to recruit fresh lawyers straight out of law school.
- Terrible Interviewees Montage: When Strassera and Moreno Ocampo realise they need to find young blood, the recruitment montage shows mostly inexperienced, naive, or immature people. Nevertheless, they get the job.
- Travel Montage: The prosecution team have to travel all over Argentina to collect testimonies and evidence about the disappearances.
- Unfortunate Names: Strassera's security guard feels the need to clarify that his name is spelled "Leach", not "Leech".
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Strassera's son, Javier, knows a bit about the law and helps his father review his closing argument. Ironically enough, he accused the film of being ideologically biased in favor of Peronism.
