Graciela Dufau Movies

Set amidst a backdrop of political unrest and oppression in Argentina following the coup of the late 1980s, this impressive drama dwells upon a May-December love affair between a boy and a woman suspected of political subversion. When seventeen-year-old Pedro defiantly befriends political fugitive Sofia and provides her shelter, he creates a deep rift between himself, his family and his friends. Sofia is hunted because she was at one time in love with a Communist sympathizer. At first the relationship is purely platonic as Pedro helps her recover from a 23-day long flight that has left Sofia weak and starving for sleep. But as time passes, Pedro becomes increasingly involved with her and his schoolwork begins to suffer. Gradually he falls in love with her and she with him. But as the political situation grows more oppressive and the government steps up its search for subversives, the two begin making desperate plans to flee the country. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The apparent ease with which Argentina's political situation could degrade into extremists killing each other is illustrated in this interesting fictional allusion to historical reality. Suprino (Hector Bidonde), a local Peronist boss in the small town of Colonia Vela, schemes with the county mayor and a union leader to get the deputy mayor Fuentes (Federico Luppi) out of power - even though the Peronist is indebted to Fuentes. Fuentes is told that he has to fire his assistant because of the assistant's leftist sympathies - and he refuses. That evokes a harsh response from Suprino (the Peronist), who now has the police chief intervene for him. But Fuentes, rather than cave in to pressure, barricades his office, lines up men to stand by him, and gets ready for the first police assault. Leftist students then kidnap the police chief demanding that the attack on Fuentes stop - but their actions only serve to escalate the now raging conflict into a minor civil war. In the end, the film makes it clear that survival may be the only criterion determining who wins - which creates a village of losers, including the political process. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this film that focuses on the history of Buenos Aires, three separate stories by Manuel Mujica Lainez are presented in sequence, directed by three different men and dealing with three different periods in the history of the city. The first story, "Hunger" (dir. Alberto Fischerman), is set in the mid-16th century when Argentina was being colonized by the Spaniards. In this vignette, the Spanish settlers are surrounded by the Querandi tribe of Indians in the tiny village that was the beginning of Buenos Aires, and they have no means of obtaining food. Hunger becomes the dominant motif that rules all waking moments, and the settlers resort to cannibalism in order to survive. In the next story, "The Bell Bracelet " (dir. Ricardo Wulicher), the time has progressed to the 18th century, but the behavior of the Europeans in the city has not improved. An encampment of English slave-dealers is run by a blind man who has no problem in picking out pleasing slave women to pass the night away. His blindness, in the end, may be the cause of his undoing. The last story, "The Golden Room" (dir. Oscar Barney Finn), takes place at the beginning of the 20th century and involves an acerbic old dowager confined to her bed but not at all ineffectual in dealing with her household. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Three female friends separate and spend two decades leading very different lives in this engaging drama that falters slightly only in its ending. Isabel (Dora Baret) is a doctor with a clinic in a remote, impoverished area of the country. After her husband is killed in an accident, the very pregnant Isabel asks her two long-absent friends to come for a visit. One of the women is married to a wealthy man and moves in the elite circles of Buenos Aires, the other is married to an average Joe. After the three get together, they quickly come to the obvious realization that they are all strong-willed and in serious disagreement. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this sympathetic drama, the residents of a mental institution and their families struggle to deal with the realities of their mental conditions and outer circumstances. Visitors try, tenderly, to get through to their deranged kin, and at least some of the institution's clientele are working very hard to be able to reenter the mainstream. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide