Top Argentine Films of All Time

As Argentina and Messi prepare to defend their Copa America, I wanted to do a Top Argentine film list. This isn’t a comprehensive list by any means since majority of the Argentine films I have seen start from the late 1990s with the onset of New Argentine Cinema. Three decades (1990-2023) isn’t enough to cover proper ground but over the last year, I have started to fill in the gaps by trying to watch Argentine films from the 1940s-60s. Therefore, this list will change over the next year.

For now, going into Copa America 2024, here are my starting 11 films with 5 honourable mentions looking to sub in if needed.

Top 11 Argentine Films of all time:

1. Zama (2017, Lucrecia Martel)
2. The Official Story (1985, Luis Puenzo)
3. Extraordinary Stories (2008, Mariano Llinás)
4. Invasion (1969, Hugo Santiago)
5. Liverpool (2008, Lisandro Alonso)
6. Bolivia (1999, Israel Adrián Caetano)
7. Mundo grúa / Crane World (1999, Pablo Trapero)
8. Apenas un delincuente / Hardly a Criminal (1949, Hugo Fregonese)
9. The Hour of the Furnaces (1968, Octavio Getino, Fernando E. Solanas)
10. Nueve reinas / Nine Queens (2000, Fabián Bielinsky)
11. Prisioneros de la tierra / Prisoners of the Earth (1939, Mario Soffici)

5 Honourable Mentions (in no order):
Bombón: El Perro (2004, Carlos Sorín)
Son of the Bride (2001, Juan José Campanella)
Pizza, birra, faso / Pizza, Beer and Cigarettes (1998, Israel Adrián Caetano/Bruno Stagnaro)
Silvia Prieto (1999, Martín Rejtman)
Trenque Lauquen (2022, Laura Citarella)

Best Films of 2017

Similar to 2016, global cinema in 2017 kept pace with current events and created works that reflected society. There were multiple films released in 2017 that covered the plight of refugees and the struggles they face (69 Minutes Of 86 Days, Aqerat, More, Human Flow, The Other Side of Hope, Reseba, Taste of Cement) while some films showed the harsh economic realities of our world (Félicité, The Florida Project, The Nothing Factory, Western). This year’s Cannes festival unveiled three timely films set in Russia that gave a glimpse into Russian society (A Gentle Creature, Closeness and Loveless). All three are very different films yet all look at the larger Russian society by highlighting the impact on a family/spouse when a male member is absent. In addition, there were new works from established master directors although Hong Sang-soo outpaced everyone else by releasing three films in one year, which is an accomplishment even by his prolific standards. Of the numerous worthy titles to choose from, this list is restricted to 17 films, all of which are 2017 titles.

1. Zama (Argentina co-production, Lucrecia Martel)

Lucrecia Martel’s long awaited cinematic return is a feast for the senses and brings a fresh perspective to the colonial life. Packed with delightful references to cinematic and literary characters ranging Godot to Kurtz to Aguirre and even the legendary Gabbar Singh. This is filmmaking of the highest order!

2. A Man of Integrity (Iran, Mohammad Rasoulof)

Rasoulof cleverly uses a single man’s struggles to depict larger issues around corruption and politics in society. The film is set in Iran but the story is universal.

3. Western (Germany/Bulgaria, Valeska Grisebach)

A smart variation of a traditional Western film genre that illustrates the east as the promised land for riches instead. The guns may be absent but horses and masculinity aren’t.

4. Life and Nothing More (Spain/USA, Antonio Méndez Esparza)

A remarkable and urgent film that gets at the core problems regarding racism in America. By using a single incident around a playground, the film shows the cycle of fear that leads to a violent reaction and subsequent excessive force by law officials.

5. Cocote (Dominican Republic co-production, Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias)

A creative blend of fiction and documentary which effortlessly mixes different film stocks (colour, black and white) and contains different camera styles, including an immersive 360-degree pan. The end result is a scrumptious film that hails the arrival of an exciting new voice in international cinema!

6. A Gentle Creature  (France, Sergei Loznitsa)

Loznitsa brings a sharp documentary eye in depicting the prison system in Russian society while layering the work with Kafkaesque notes, satire and even opera.

7. Closeness (Russia, Kantemir Balagov)

Based on a true story, Balagov nicely uses a 4:3 aspect ratio to box the screen in thereby showing the closeness and tension among different ethnicities in the Caucasus city of Nalchik.

8. Lover for a Day (France, Philippe Garrel)

A lovely mix of French New Wave and contemporary sensibilities.

9. The Nothing Factory (Portugal, Pedro Pinho)

Starts off as an absurd comedy, shifts gears to become a documentary and ends as a musical. The documentary portion of the film is brimming with ideas where the film looks at the end of capitalism and shutting down of factories across Europe. The film poses relevant questions about what work means in modern society.

10. Taste of Cement (Germany/Syria/Lebanon co-production, Ziad Kalthoum)

A poetic documentary that depicts the lives of Syrian workers who are working on high rise towers in Beirut. The documentary smartly interweaves the construction of the buildings in Beirut with the destruction of the workers’ homes back in Syria. The film also features some of the most inventive framing and camera movements of the year, including some dizzying views of Beirut.

Honourable mentions (alphabetical order):

Aqerat (Malaysia, Edmund Yeo)
Faces Places (France, JR/Agnès Varda)
Félicité (Senegal co-production, Alain Gomis)
Newton (India, Amit Masurkar)
On Body and Soul (Hungary, Ildikó Enyedi)
The Other Side of Hope (Finland, Aki Kaurismäki)
Wajib (Palestine co-production, Annemarie Jacir)

New Argentine Cinema

New Argentine Cinema: Rebirth of a Nation’s Film Industry

The Calgary Cinematheque’s focus on 21st Century Argentine Cinema highlights a diverse collection of contemporary directors associated with the New Argentine Cinema. While films of the New Argentine Cinema were not part of a unified movement like the French New Wave or Brazilian Cinema Novo, they were united by a desire to depict original creative stories that broke away from the past yet still maintained a foothold in Argentine society. Famous Argentine directors such as Adrián Caetano, Bruno Stagnaro, Pablo Trapero, Martín Rejtman, Daniel Burman, Lisandro Alonso, Lucrecia Martel, the late Fabián Bielinsky, Carlos Sorin and Matías Piñeiro all started making their movies when Argentina was either in the midst of an economic crisis or just coming out of one. Powered by fresh new ideas, their diverse films helped restore Argentina’s cinematic identity both nationally and on the global stage.

The collective process of filmmaking in New Argentine Cinema did not happen overnight but took almost two decades as Argentine cinema had to rebuild itself after local cinema had lost its voice and the film industry almost ground to a complete halt in the late 1980’s-early 1990’s. Between 1976-83, Argentine cinema was restricted to a limited number of film productions per year under the rule of the military dictatorship. Once the dictatorship ended in 1983, the Argentine film industry was finally able to make works that examined the impacts of the dictatorship or the ‘Dirty War’, a term which described the subversive tactics used by the military to torture, assassinate or kidnap opposing political voices. The most famous of these films about the dictatorship, Luis Puenzo’s The Official Story (1985), won an Academy Award in 1986. Film production showed signs of recovery in the mid 1980’s but production hit a snag after the Argentine Currency crisis of 1989, an event that resulted in film production falling to numbers lower than even under the dictatorship years. However, a series of events in the early 1990’s ensured the seeds for a future awakening of cinema had been planted. Demetrios Matheou outlines three of these key events in The Faber Book of New South American Cinema. First, the establishment of the Universidad del Cine paved the way for future generations of film directors and many of the nation’s current top directors, such as Lisandro Alonso, Bruno Stagnaro, Pablo Trapero, Matías Piñeiro, graduated from there. Second, the creation of the 1994 New Cinema Law helped open up a new source of revenue for the newly created Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales (INCAA) ensuring independent films could be made. Third, the sponsorship in 1995 of a short-film competition, Historias Breves, resulted in many young directors getting a chance to make their short films and also establish connections with other like-minded filmmakers. It was at this short film competition that Daniel Burman, Lucrecia Martel, Adrián Caetano and Bruno Stagnaro met each other and started sharing ideas. Film production started to increase in the late 1990‘s although most of the films were Hollywood-inspired productions. However, just as the 1990‘s were about to end, a New Argentine cinema started to take flight, starting with Adrián Caetano and Bruno Stagnaro’s Pizza, birra, faso (Pizza, Beer and Cigarettes,1998) and Pablo Trapero’s Mundo Grúa (Crane World) in 1999. These young directors came with a unique perspective and their cinema broke away from the conventional mould that existed previously. Pizza, Beer and Cigarettes and Crane World were shot in extended takes and depicted characters and events in a vérité manner that bordered on documentary. These two films had roots in Italian neo-realist cinema and incorporated Argentina’s social and economic realities. The economic crisis of 1998-02 impacted Argentine society drastically and these films embraced the harsh reality and stitched it within their framework to depict youth and workers struggling to make ends meet. Adrián Caetano continued this examination with his 2001 film Bolivia which examined the simmering anger regarding unemployment and the distrust towards foreigners coming into the country. Caetano, Stagnaro and Trapero showed that their films didn’t exist in a bubble but were fully immersed in contemporary society. Once these directors took an alternate path, others followed and examined Argentine society with their own unique visions.

It has been just over two decades since the establishment of the New Cinema Law and INCAA. The impact of these efforts have helped ensure that Argentine Cinema is no longer isolated from the world. In addition, the film themes have also evolved from purely Argentine stories to works that contain universal themes. For the last 15 years, many of the New Argentine Cinema works have screened at numerous international film festivals around the globe. Calgary has shown works of Daniel Burman and Carlos Sorin as part of either the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) or Calgary Latin Wave. However, their films were screened in isolation with no unifying thread to link the works with each other. There existed a need to finally shine the spotlight on New Argentine Cinema and present a collection of works from some of the more established names who are inspiring a new generation of directors around the world. In this regard, the Calgary Cinematheque’s four-film series offers a chance to closely look at some of these established directors. All the films selected were made in the 21st Century as Argentina was emerging from their economic crisis. The four films, Jauja (Lisandro Alonso), The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel), Bombón: El Perro (Carlos Sorin) and Viola (Matías Piñeiro), are by directors associated with different regions of Argentina. These directors themes and styles range from a vérité style to a cinema inspired by theatre and literature. Lisandro Alonso’s stunning visual style arises from his decision to set almost all films outside cities, away from the everyday noise and traffic of city life. Alonso’s films take place in nature, such as a farm (La Libertad), a forest/river (Los Muertos), snowy mountains/sea (Liverpool) and a desert (Jauja), allowing his camera the freedom to explore the natural surroundings thereby creating a beautiful visual language. The only feature film he depicted in a city, Fantasma, takes place entirely inside the Teatro San Martin, a Buenos Aires theatre, where the city is only visible via the giant glass windows in the lobby. Prior to Jauja, his films contained lonely male characters who made their way through nature, either going about their daily lives or trying to repair their past. However, Jauja is an exciting departure for Alonso as it highlights what a talented auteur can accomplish with a larger cast and a major star (Viggo Mortensen). On the other hand, Lucrecia Martel’s films are packed with multiple characters and are entirely city-based. In her case, the films take place in Salta, a city located in the North West region of Argentina where she was born. In her films, the settings are large houses and the stories depict class divisions in society with a witty combination of satire and drama. No one is spared in Martel’s films as she ensures the attentive camera captures all relevant details. Carlos Sorin is identified with Patagonia, located in the southern part of Argentina, a region where he has filmed four of his features, starting with Intimate Stories, Bombón: El Perro, The Window and his last feature Gone Fishing. Each film contains a beautiful layer of emotions while following fully developed characters on journeys across the picturesque Patagonian landscapes. Buenos Aires forms the backdrop for Matías Piñeiro’s films but one doesn’t really notice the presence of the city in his work. The characters may live in a city but the city does not impose on their lives. Instead, their lives revolve around art and theatre. In this regard, Piñeiro has skillfully created a world within a world in his films which are richly influenced by theatre and literature, something which sets him apart from the other contemporary Argentine directors. In his recent films, the influence of Shakespeare can be felt such as in Rosalind (Shakespeare’s As You Like It), Viola (The Twelfth Night) and his recent The Princess of France (Love Labour’s Lost). Yet, his films are not direct adaptations but show how text from Shakespeare’s plays can serve as creative inspirations.

The earlier works of New Argentine Cinema started off by holding up a mirror towards Argentine society and giving voices to people and stories that were previously suppressed. Newer works still have roots in Argentine society but are looking outwards toward the world and presenting stories that are universal. As a result, people from different parts of the world can relate to these Argentine films. For example, Lisandro Alonso’s films are undeniably associated with Argentine landscapes but the depiction of closure and redemption sought by his characters are universal traits. Similarly, Martel’s films examine class divisions in society but the behaviour and actions of her characters can take place in any country where there is a significant financial divide between people. Emotions play a big part in Carlos Sorin’s films which is why his films can evoke powerful reactions around the world. In Bombón: El Perro, Sorin depicts a tender relationship between a man and his dog and as a result, the film perfectly illustrates why a dog is such a worthy companion to humans. On the other hand, Piñeiro’s films captures the world of art and theatre. As a result, Piñeiro’s films could easily be set in any city where art and theatre flourish. The four films selected by the Cinematheque give a glimpse into Argentine society as well as highlight the unique filmmaking style of New Argentine Cinema. The initial films of New Argentine Cinema started with inspiration from neo-realist Italian cinema with stories born out of Argentina’s economy crisis. Now, newer Argentine films have developed their own film language and are in turn referenced in global film festivals. Any film set in Patagonia will be forever linked to Carlos Sorin while any film which features contemplative shots of lonely men walking in nature will be compared to the cinema of Lisandro Alonso. The Argentine works selected by the Calgary Cinematheque offers a unique chance to understand some of Argentina’s past while offering a glimpse into both contemporary and future cinematic trends.

Cross-published on the Calgary Cinematheque's website.

Alonso vs Martel, 2nd Leg

The 1st leg between these two film-makers was summarized back in summer 2009 where Alonso's Los Muertos was the clear winner over Martel's La ciénaga.

The second leg was to feature Alonso's Liverpool vs Martel's The Headless Woman. The Martel feature was first out of the gate and found it much better than La ciénaga. Still, I felt that if Alonso's Liverpool was as good as Los Muertos, then he would easily be the winner.

It turns out that Alonso's Liverpool is much better than Los Muertos and as a result, his film easily wins the second leg over the Martel feature.

Space, Environment and Freedom

While both Martel and Alonso are very good directors, liking one over the other depends on personal choice. The reason I prefer Alonso is because his films allow one to breathe in the environment because his camera is very flexible in capturing space around his characters whereas Martel restricts space because she wants to get in close with not so nice rich characters, people who are not meant to be liked in the first place. Alonso’s characters are probably not nice either. The character, Vargas, in Los Muertos is released from Jail for murder while Farrel in Liverpool ran away from home committing a possible rape but since Alonso places a distance between audience and his characters, we can observe freely and objectively. Plus Alonso takes the audience on a ride through an Argentine country side we hardly see on screen whereas Martel's features are rooted in cities -- all three of Martel's features are filmed in Salta.

Parallels -- Land & Water

Both Los Muertos and Liverpool start with two lonely men leaving a confined space and heading off into a vast open land. Their modes of transportation vary a little as Los Muertos starts on land and then moves onto water (via a boat) while Liverpool starts on a ship and then moves onto land. Both films contain men trying to search for their past in order to find a closure. The ending of Liverpool signifies liberation as one can see all the weight from Farrel's shoulders drop off and he walks away lighter into the snowy landscape.

The lonely nature of Farrel's journey in Liverpool also reminds of the main character in Carlos Reygadas’ Japon. The two characters are almost mirrors of each other but with a different past and journey purpose. In Japon, the character wants to end his life whereas in Liverpool Farrel seeks closure so as to live the rest of his life in peace.

Essential Alonso Reading

Michael Guillen's excellent interview with Alonso at the Evening Class.

James Quandt's brilliant essay in Art Forum which overlooks all of Alonso’s works.

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The 2010 Movie World Cup

Argentina, in the form of Lisandro Alonso's Liverpool, is so far a leading contender for winning my movie world cup. Although there should be strong competition from Portugal (via Pedro Costa), Brazil, Germany, Spain and France. Interestingly, all these teams will be among the favourites in the summer soccer tournament as well.

Martel vs Alonso

The first leg: Los Muertos vs La ciénaga

I first read about a comparison between the two Argentine film-makers Lisandro Alonso and Lucrecia Martel in 2008 when their new works were doing the rounds in the film festival circuit. It seemed that some people preferred the style of one over the other. My only familiarity with either director was restricted to just one film, Alonso’s Los Muertos and Martel’s La ciénaga (The Swamp). One film is not enough to draw a conclusion. But if I had to give a view based on a solitary work, I would easily give the nod to Alonso. Los Muertos was poetry in motion. A beautiful film where the camera had full freedom to roam about and as a result, the audience could breathe and soak in the environment. Whereas, Martel’s The Swamp was cramped up in familial settings and only started to come to life near the end.

Second Leg: The Headless Woman vs Liverpool

So how would the second round fare? The first 10 minutes of Martel’s The Headless Woman are beautiful but that changes shortly because the main character Veronica is not meant to be adored. This is emphasized by Martel's decision to only focus the camera on Veronica’s face most of the time, even when other people are talking. At other times, the camera is focusing on her side profile or is just behind her shoulder giving us her line of sight. This is done on purpose to show that from Veronica's perspective the people around her not worthy of attention

This is a brilliant stroke from Martel as she wants the audience to experience the sense of dizziness and detachment that Veronica undergoes as a result of an accident early on the film. In addition, her film highlights the class difference in Argentine society as Veronica is well off and treats the constant supply of servants and caregivers around her without much thought. On occasions, the camera blurs out the view of these other characters trying to emphasize that these people are invisible to Veronica.

Overall, The Headless Woman is a much more dynamic and large scale work than The Swamp.

Unfortunately, I can't reach a final decision in the Martel vs Alonso match-up because I am still waiting to see Alonso’s Liverpool. Although if his film is as good as Los Muertos, then for me, Alonso would easily be the winner.

Black Friday, Pickpocket and the Swamp

Black Friday (2005, Director Anurag Kashyap):

Well Anurag Kashyap's film is finally officially released after spending more than a year banned by the Indian censors. The film's crime: depicting the inside story about the terrorists behind the multiple Bombings in 1993. The Indian courts felt that the movie might sway the jurors in passing judgement so the film was banned until the courts passed their sentence to the men implicated. Now that the court proceedings are done, the film can be finally be watched. And the verdict? This is film-making of the highest order!

However, can this movie be watched in isolation to the real life crime committed? That is the same question that comes up while watching United 93. While these films deal with events regarding terrorist strikes, the two films are set in different time contexts -- Black Friday starts when Bombay is rocked by the multiple bombs and examines events after that bombing, and only goes into the past via flashbacks. On the other hand, United 93 takes place mostly on the morning of the terror attacks and ends when the crime is finished. Both films are gripping in their own right but at the end of day Black Friday feels like an absorbing crime film, especially one that has graduated from a Ram Gopal Varma academy. That is not a surprize as Kashyap has written dialogues for previous RGV films, especially the intense Satya. If one took Black Friday to be an underworld crime film, then it would be considered a sheer genius work of art. The film breathes realism in every scene, more than that of regular RGV films. However, this is a movie based on real incidents and that puts it under a different spotlight -- One can't shake the feeling that Anurag Kashyup is treading a fine line between showing events objectively and trying to let subjective feelings about the criminals filter from behind the lens. Can a writer ever accurately portray the actual dialogues criminals talked during their criminal planning? No. This is where a screenplay has to be careful in that it does not go overboard with feelings of jingoism. I do believe that Kashyup achieves a fine balance here in that the dialogues are both angry yet restrained and never feel too melodramatic.

There is a sequence in the movie which goes into long extended details about a terrorist's ordeals in trying to escape India. This character hardly has a presence in the movie so it makes no sense to spend so much footage on him. With the exception of these long un-necessary scenes, the rest of the movie stays focussed to the task at hand which is about depicting the interrogation of the criminals and the odd background info about their motives. Since so many movies have been made in the last decade about Mumbai's underworld & outside terrorist support, some parts of the movie feel like recycled material. That being said, I loved the entire film from the opening shots to the closing credits -- dark, grim and harsh. Real? Not completely but seems to contain some truth to it. But a worthy film? No doubt about it!!!

Pickpocket (1959, Director Robert Bresson)

The best films are the simplest ones. And such is this case with this old classic. True to the title, the movie is about a pickpocket. The films starts with Michel's confession in how he got into stealing upto how he refined his slight of hand tricks. The precise camera-work lets us focus on only the essential details; not a single shot in the film is wasted. Martin LaSalle's cold emotionless expressions are perfect for depicting Michel and Marika Green demonstrates plenty of charm with only a few expressions as Michel's love interest. A quick and breazy film under 80 minutes.

La Cienaga (2001, Director Lucrecia Martel)

There are some films that require a person to be in the right mood. Safe to say, I was not in the mood to watch this depiction of upper middle class life in a small Argentine town. The film is well shot and is leisurely paced. In fact, the few sudden tragedies in the movie occur in such a matter of fact manner that if one blinks, they might miss the accident. Sure, few images stayed with me long after the film was over but overall, I was not drawn into this family saga. Lucrecia Martel got a Sundance award for this film's script which is not a surprizing fact. It seems such movies are tailor made to win awards at Sundance -- take a family movie, and just focus a camera here or there, show some off-beat characters and then sit back and watch the critics go crazy.