The Official Story (1985)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Official Story is the English title of an Argentinian historical drama which premiered in 1985.

 

This drama is about an upper middle-class couple who live in Buenos Aires with an adopted child.

 

The mother comes to realize that the adoption may be illegal and that her daughter may be the child of a woman who was “disappeared” during the so-called Dirty War – a dark chapter of Argentina’s modern history, when a military junta ruled the country (1976-1983).

 

The story takes place in 1983, shortly before the return of civilian rule.

 

Here is some basic information about this drama:

 

** Original title: La historia oficial

** Producer: Marcelo Pineyro

** Director: Luis Puenzo

** Writers: Luis Puenzo & Aida Bortnik

** Language: Spanish

** Subtitles: English

** Released on DVD in 2005

** Run time: 113 minutes

 

The cast includes the following:

 

** Norma Aleandro as Alicia (the mother) (a teacher)

** Hector Alterio as Roberto (the father) (a businessman)

** Analia Castro as Gaby (the daughter)

** Hugo Arana as Enrique (Roberto’s brother)

** Chunchuna Villafane as Ana (Alicia’s friend from high school)

** Patricio Contreras as Benitez (Alicia’s colleague)

** Chela Ruiz as Sara Reballo (an old woman)

 

The official Story is a historical drama; a fictional story which is placed in a historical context. In this case, the historical context is Argentina in 1983, shortly before the return of civilian rule.

 

I do not wish to spoil the viewing for anyone. I am not going to say much about what happens in this drama. 

 

I will only offer a brief introduction and tell you how the story begins.

 

Alicia is living a comfortable life in Buenos Aires. Her husband Roberto is a successful businessman. Alicia teaches history at a high school for boys. 

 

Alicia and Roberto have a house and two cars. They also have a maid who takes care of their daughter Gaby.

 

In this drama, they celebrate her fifth birthday. Since we are in 1983, this means that Gaby was born in 1978, two years after the military junta took power.

 

Alicia does not know much about the Dirty War that has been going on since the military junta took power in 1976. How can she not know? Because it does not affect her directly.

 

There is some talk about “subversives” who disappear, but Alicia is naïve: she assumes that if someone is arrested by the police or by soldiers, they must have done something wrong. They must be guilty. They deserve to be taken.

 

In school, in Alicia’s history class, there is much talk about Mariano Moreno (1778-1811), an Argentinian lawyer, journalist and politician. 

 

Moreno is a famous patriot, but not everything about his life is known with certainty. How and why did he die? Perhaps he was poisoned?

 

When one of her students says “history is written by murderers,” she is shocked.

 

She tells him to leave the classroom and later she reports him to the headmaster.

 

Ana - Alicia’s friend from high school - has been living abroad for several years. Now she returns to Argentina and meets with Alicia. When the two friends get together, Ana tells her what happened to her in 1976:

 

She was kidnapped and tortured by soldiers who wanted her to tell them about her boyfriend Pedro. She claimed she had not seen him or talked to him for two years, but they did not believe her.

 

When she was released, she left the country. This is the reason why she has been living abroad for several years.

 

Hearing Ana’s story, Alicia is shocked, and she says:

 

“Did you report it?”

 

Alicia is very naïve: she does not understand the situation. To whom would Ana have reported this violation of her human rights? To the authorities? But the violation had been committed by the authorities themselves!

 

Ana also talks about female prisoners who were pregnant. When their babies were born, they were taken away and given to families trusted by the military or sold to loyal families who wanted to adopt.

 

At first, Alicia dismisses this claim:

 

“This cannot be true!”

 

But Ana’s story makes her think about Gaby. What about her own daughter? Could Gaby be the daughter of a woman who had been kidnapped and who had been forced to give up her child?

 

When she tries to talk to Roberto about it, he changes the subject. He was the one who arranged the adoption back in 1978, but now he refuses to talk about it.

 

Alicia is worried. She cannot let it go. She begins her own investigation. She visits the hospital where Gaby was born. She tries to find an official document connected with the birth. However, she does not get any results.

 

While Alicia is waiting in the hospital, an old woman (Sara) approaches her. She is looking for her daughter who disappeared in 1978.

 

The two women start to talk about their daughters: what they know and what they do not know.

 

Alicia is speculating: could this woman be Gaby’s grandmother? If indeed she is, what does it mean? Will she have to give up the daughter that she loves? She does not want that.

 

On the other hand, can she hold on to Gaby, if she knows that she was taken from her family by force? By now, Alicia’s life is not as comfortable as it used to be.

 

This is how the story begins, and this is where my presentation ends. If you want to know what happens to Alicia and the people around her, you will have to watch drama all the way to the end.

 

When you get to the end of the drama, you will see that it has an open ending. The director does not want to give us all the answers. The viewer must make up his or her own mind. But there are some indications of what is going to happen.

 

What do reviewers say about this drama?

 

Here are some results:

 

On IMDb it has a rating of 77 percent.

 

On Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 89 percent from the audience and a rating of 100 percent from the critics.

 

The famous movie critic Roger Ebert (1942-2013) offers four out of four stars (100 percent).

 

This drama was nominated for several awards and won many of them. 

 

Most importantly, it won an Oscar (an Academy Award) in 1986. It was chosen as the Best Foreign Language Film of the year 1985.

 

I understand the numerous positive reviews and the prestigious awards. 

 

In my opinion, they are fully deserved. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

PS # 1. This drama was shot on location, in Buenos Aires. Shooting began in 1983, but had to be stopped, because the film-makers were being threatened.

 

The film-makers announced that filming had been cancelled. This was not true. This was a clever trick which worked. They avoided any further trouble. In fact, filming was not cancelled at all. It continued in secret.

 

PS # 2. In this drama, there are several references to the Mothers and Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo. There are some pictures of a demonstration in this location.

 

The Mothers and the Grandmothers began their weekly protest on Thursday afternoon in 1977. The demonstrations continued after the fall of the military junta in 1983. The last demonstration took place in 2006.

 

The Mothers and Grandmothers wanted to know what had happened to their children and grandchildren.

 

The members of military junta ordered many brutal actions, but they realised that it was not a good idea to arrest and kill the Mothers and the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo.

 

This is why the demonstrations were tolerated; this is why they were allowed to take place, but some members of the group were kidnapped and detained when they were not in the middle of a demonstration.

 

PS # 3. In this drama, Alicia tries to talk to a Catholic priest about her concern, but he does not want to help her. There are many Catholics in Argentina. What role did the Catholic Church play during the time when the military junta was in power? For information about this topic, see the following book:

 

The Catholic Church and Argentina’s Dirty War

by Gustavo Morello

(2015)

 

PS # 4. The following item is available online:

 

Julia G. Young, “The Catholic Church and Argentina’s Dirty War,” Commonweal, 28 September 2015 (this article is a review of Morello’s book).

 

PS # 5. The British-born reporter Robert Cox was the editor of the English-language Buenos Aires Herald when the military junta took power in 1976.

 

For a while, his newspaper published information about the abductions, even though it was not allowed. Because of this, he and his family received several death threats.

 

In 1979, they all left the country. Had they stayed on, they would probably not have survived. For details, see the following book:

 

Dirty Secrets, Dirty War:

The Exile of Editor Robert J. Cox

Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1976-1983

by (his son) David Cox

(2008)

 

PS # 6. Messenger on a White Horse is a documentary film which premiered in 2017. The topic of this film is the life and career of Robert Cox with special focus on his time in Argentina and his connection to this country.

 

PS # 7. Norma Aleandro, who plays Alicia in this drama, was born in 1936. She was critical of the junta. After a while, she did not feel safe. She had to go into exile while the junta was in power.

 

At first, she lived in Uruguay. But later, she moved to Spain. She returned to Argentina in 1983. In time to play the leading role in this movie.

 

PS # 8. Argentina, 1985 is a historical drama which premiered in 2022.

 

The topic of this drama is a trial which took place in Argentina in 1985. This is the trial in which nine leading members of the military junta were accused of committing serious crimes during the Dirty War (1976-1983).

 

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La Historia Oficial

A Spanish poster for the historical drama

which premiered in 1985

 

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