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Director & Screenwriter:
Christopher Hampton
Co-Stars:
Emma Thompson (Cecelia Rueda), Ruben Blades, Claire Bloom,
Maria Canals, Anton Lesser, John Wood
World Premiere:
September 7, 2003 (Venice International Film Festival, in
competition)
Release Date:
Spring 2004 (U.S.)
Studios: Universal
Pictures (in association with Arenas Entertainment, Myriad
Pictures, and Green Moon Productions (Antonio and Melanie’s
production company)
Filming: Buenos
Aires, Argentina; Madrid, Spain
The
movie is based upon the 1987 novel of the same title by Lawrence
Thornton, and was the first book in a trilogy, followed by
“Naming the Spirits” and “Tales from the
Blue Archives”.
Production
started on July 29th, 2002, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with
some filming also done in Spain, and wrapped up nine weeks
later in late September (pushed back a few months from April,
2002).
The film is
set in the dark days of the late 1970's, when thousands of
Argentineans disappeared without a trace into the generals'
prison cells and torture chambers. The role of playwright
Carlos Rueda is played by Antonio. When his activist-journalist
wife, Cecelia (Emma Thompson), is suddenly taken from him,
he discovers a magical gift: In waking dreams, by looking
into the eyes of their relatives, he has clear visions of
the fates of "los desaparecidos", or "the disappeareds",
police prisoners spirited away for questionable offenses,
tortured, and usually killed. But Carlos cannot "imagine"
what has happened to his own wife. Driven to near madness,
his mind cannot be taken away: imagination, stories, and the
mystical secrets of the human spirit stay with him.
It received
less than a warm reception when audiences at the Venice Film
Festival literally booed at its’ screening. Antonio
was not in attendance as he was still appearing in “Nine”
on Broadway. Emma Thompson was apparently brought to tears
by the audience’s reaction. However, we have had reports
from Europe, where the film has been released (in limited
distribution), that the public is embracing the film. Our
own Carol and Chris were personally told by Antonio in New
York City that the film has obtained an American distributor.
While we do
not know how closely the movie follows the plot of the award-winning
novel, Publishers Weekly had this to say at the time of its
publication in 1987:
This astonishingly
proficient and gripping first novel should be required reading
for anyone who calls him or herself a responsible citizen.
Not only is it masterfully written, with images as sharp as
shards of broken glass, but it also carries a message so potent
it burns into the conscience. Set in Buenos Aires during the
rule of the generals and their brutal policy of abducting
and obliterating those who opposed them, the narrative tells
of playwright Carlos Rueda, who suddenly finds himself with
the power to "see" the disappeared ones and their
fates. In the tradition of magical realism, by rendering almost
palpable the sense of unreality that bizarre events evoke,
Thornton makes Carlos's gift entirely convincing. Carlos's
power announces itself when his journalist wife Cecilia is
abducted; he uses it to bring news of their loved ones to
the courageous mothers who march in the Plaza de Mayo in an
effort to make the generals acknowledge their missing kin.
Thornton conveys the fates of the disappeared in hauntingly
credible scenes, at the same time providing a mesmerizing
portrait of the xenophobic ideology that allows the generals
to commit any brutality in the name of patriotism. In spite
of his personal tragedy, which is compounded by two additional
bitter blows, Carlos's faith in the power of reason remains
strong. "There are two Argentinas," he says, "the
regime's travesty of it, and the one we have in our hearts."
Eventually the pure power of his imagination wins out over
the obscene power of the ruling junta; the generals flee and
some of the "disappeareds" come home. "It is
not often that you see life and fiction take each other by
the hand and dance," says this novel's narrator. The
judge at the trial of the generals cries out: "Nunca
mas!" Thornton's achievement is to make us see the power
inherent in books such as this one, books that carry a message
of hope to those who will read, believe, act and survive.
Film Synopsis
by Lisa
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