The Official Story (La historia oficial)

Buy This Item The Official Story (La historia oficial) by Koch Lorber Films  Available from Amazon  $19.99  on 11-25-2008     An Argentine teacher lives in blissful ignorance of the evils perpetrated by her country's government. Over time, however, her students' rejection of the "official" versions of their history leads her to question things herself. Suspecting that her adopted daughter may have been the child of a murdered political prisoner, she attempts to unearth the truth. But her investigation reveals levels of political corruption so abhorrent that the illusions of her past life are irrevocably shattered. Reader Reviews I first saw THE OFFICIAL STORY in one of the Spanish courses I took at the University of Washington. My teacher was from Argentina and the film definitely spoke to her in a distinctive way, since she was a product of that nation and knew, firsthand, the goings on of the government with "Los Desaparecidos" (The Disappeared Ones). It was a fleet of intellectuals, old people, young people, men and women all considered a threat to Argentinean government (or subversive), who were mysteriously disappeared by the government, tortured, raped, and, in many cases, killed for speaking their minds openly about the state of political affairs. This beautifully made film won a well-deserved Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1985. THE OFFICIAL STORY was sensitively directed by Luis Puenzo, starring Norma Aleandro, Hector Alterio and Chuchuna Villafane. Alicia (Norma Aleandro) is a teacher at an all boys school and fails to make a real connection with people of any age, much less the students she interacts with on a daily basis. She and her husband, Roberto (Hector Alterio) have adopted a little girl and it isn't until Alicia has a chance encounter with her friend, Ana (Chunchuna Villafane) that she becomes aware of the bleak reality of the disappeared ones, and begins to wonder whether her adoptive daughter might be a descendant of one of them. This film is raw, unrepentant and very, very well done. I think all people should see this, to get a better sense of the state of Argentina's government, the treatment of its people at the hands of a brutal dictatorship, and also to experience truly beautiful cinema.

The Official Story (La historia oficial) Available from Amazon Price: $19.99 Updated on 11-25-2008.

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