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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)

Studios: Universal Pictures (in association with Arenas Entertainment, Myriad Pictures, and Green Moon Productions (Antonio and Melanie’s production company)

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.

IMAGINING ARGENTINA, 2003