Dir.: Santiago Mitre, Cast: Ricardo Darin, Juan Pedro Lanzini; Argentina/USA 2022, 140 min.
Multi-awarded director Santiago Mitre (The Summit) chronicles a dark episode in the history of his nation: the 1985 trial of the Junta’s generals. And although these military monsters had terrorised the country and murdered half a million Argentinians for nearly a decade during the ‘Dirty Wars’, this was the only trial that ever took place. The hero of the hour is General Prosecutor Julio Strassero (a masterful Riccardo Darin) who, undeterred by the military’s still considerable and corrupt influence within their fragile new democracy, assembles a team of hungry young lawyers for the monumental court battle. What follows – on the widescreen and in intimate close-up – is an incendiary race against time to bring justice, involving death threats as dirty as the wars themselves. DoP Javier Julia’s panoramic shots of the courtroom and specular street set pieces make this a real epic that speeds along with Mitre’s tightly written script making over two hours seem like minutes. AS
VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2022 | FIPRESCI PRIZE WINNER 2022