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Imagining Argentina

EMAILPRINTArenas Entertainment

Imagining Argentina reviews
27
5.5 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 4 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 7 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Romance  |  Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Christopher Hampton

Directed by: Christopher Hampton

Release Date:
Theatrical: June 11, 2004
DVD: October 11, 2005

Running Time: 107 minutes, Color

Origin: USA / Argentina / Spain / UK

Summary

RATING: R for violence/torture and brief language

Starring Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson, Horacio Flash, Rubén Blades, Claire Bloom, Anton Lesser, John Wood, and Maria Canals

Set in Argentina during the corrupt military dictatorship of the 1970's, this is the story of a man (Banderas) searching for his wife (Thompson), an outspoken journalist, and his daughter who are among the 30,000 "desaparecidos" (the disappeareds). (Arenas Entertainment)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

A powerful and disturbing political drama.

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30

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

Like "Life Is Beautiful" before it, Imagining Argentina juxtaposes horrific images of torture and humiliation against gooey optimism and thinks it's saying something profound about human resilience in the process.

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30

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

Severely marred by a plot device so ludicrous it turns a serious drama into something silly.

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20

Variety David Stratton

Fails on almost every level…the film only succeeds in trivializing this shameful era.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 5.5 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Zack L. gave it a7:
An excellent film. But the main character (banderas) should have shown more compassion and emotion.

David P. gave it a2:
Not a good film aswell as the features as it needs loads of work!! Im disgusted its pathetic.

Lilibeth C. gave it an8:
I had the chance to see this movie just last night. I rated it at 8 because I felt that Carlos Rueda (Banderas) should have reacted more or strongly against what happened to his wife and daughter. Maybe if I ere in his place, I could have killed any junta that i see. This feel good/feel bad movie which realy stirred emotions out of me.

Ignacio M. gave it a 10:
Please excuse my English, now that it is my third language I was born and raised in Argentina; I currently work in Buenos Aires at a café, until I get my bachelor degree in naval architecture. As crazy as it might sound, my grandfather disappeared in the 1970s, and never came back. Perhaps to you… this was just a movie, you can rate it as you want or give the names you like to. But I found myself dumb founded with this film, I felt the worst anguish while seeing it, and forced myself to keep on watching and to keep on remembering. I can not find words in English nor Spanish to describe how deeply this movie has gotten to me. It’s been a long time since it happened, but I see most of this film as my mind portraying old stories that my grandmother used to tell me when I asked about the dad of my dad. A film where reality is described at its best and where a part of me knows that justice in this country is just a word with no meaning, it was before, and it is now. I win nothing by saying this, nor I feel better, I just thought that perhaps I should comment on the impact the movie has had on someone like me, a normal guy who studies and works in country where future has little by little lost its meaning.

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