1. La Casa del Ángel (The House of the Angel) 1957 Dir. Leopoldo Torre Nilsson
Based on the novel by his wife Beatriz Guido, this film, with its touch of horror, launched Torre Nilsson’s career. Set in the1920s, in a society where political arguments were settled by duels and women were expected to be innocent and naïve, Ana (Elsa Daniel) is an adolescent who is brought up in an oppressive and hypocritical environment. When she discovers sex, the crudities of life signal an end of her innocence. La Casa del Ángel is a story permeated by an intensely repressive and claustrophobic atmosphere. A lesson in masterly film-making, the film was screened at Cannes and also nominated for the Golden Globes.
2. La Historia Oficial (The Official Story) 1985 Dir. Luis Puenzo
The Official Story recounts the political awakening of a decent but conservative and naïve history teacher, in the most painful and personal way, as she slowly discovers that her adopted daughter may have been the abducted child of a ‘disappeared’ political prisoner. With Normal Aleandro and Héctor Alterio, this superb film won the Oscar for Argentina for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Screenplay.
3. Sur (The South) 1988 Dir. Pino Solanas
A political prisoner is struggling to come to terms with his life outside prison after the Dictatorship when his recently assassinated friend El Negro appears before him and wants help to settle a score. Wandering through a labrynth of dreams and magical realism, Floreal confronts people who were of importance in his life, as El Negro helps him release some of his rage and face a new beginning. The film was immediately nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival, where Solanas went on to win the Best Director Award. The direction, cinematography (and music by Astor Piazzola), are all excellent in this beautifully crafted film that expresses Solana’s deep love for his country, its people and its music.
4. Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens) 2000 Dir. Fabián Bielinsky
Two small-time swindlers, Juan (Gastón Pauls) and Marcos (Ricardo Darín), team up after meeting in a local supermarket and become involved in a million-dollar deal. As the deceptions and duplicity mount, it becomes more and more difficult to figure out who is conning whom, and we begin to ask ourselves,"Who isn't a thief?” A wonderful exploration of Argentina’s unique brand of viveza criolla in all its charm and naughtiness, which catapulted the acting prowess of Ricardo Darín onto the international scene.
5. La Ceinaga (The Swamp) 2001 Dir. Lucrecia Martel
The sense of foreboding and dread pervades this chronicle of a society in decadence, through the lens of a bourgeois family spending the summer by the side of a pool they can’t afford to maintain. With beautiful cinematography, and a highly sophisticated use of on and off screen sound, Martel turns her metaphoric tale of a sweaty, sticky summer in Northern Argentina, into a cinematic marvel. This visceral take on class, nature, sexuality, and the ways that political turmoil and social stagnation can manifest in human relationships is a drama of extraordinary tactility, and one of the great contemporary film debuts.
6. El Abrazo Partido (Lost Embrace) 2003 Dir. Daniel Burman
Set in Buenos Aires’ vibrant Jewish community, Ariel is a college dropout with hopes of escaping a career at his mother’s lingerie store. As tantalizing as helping beautiful women slip in and out of lingerie can be, Ariel seeks a more fulfilling life. While hoping to secure a European passport, the imminent return of his long-lost father forces him to deal with issues he’s been avoiding: Why his father left his family shortly after his birth to fight a war in Israel. Why he never returned. And why this seems to leave his mother and brother indifferent...but with his father’s return brings new truths and, ultimately, a long-overdue embrace.
7. El Secreto de sus Ojos (The Secret in their Eyes) 2009 Dir. Juan José Campanella
What hides behind their eyes? 20 years of unresolved love, death and injustice. Beautifully directed by Juan José Campanella, The Secret In Their Eyes follows the devastating murder case of Liliana Coloto, through the eyes of retired chief investigator Benjamín Esposito (Ricardo Darín) who is haunted by the horrific crime that he never managed to resolve. Year later, Esposito looks for his friend, colleague and love-interest in uptown girl Irene Menéndez Hastings (Soledad Villamil) to help him resolve the case that time has forgotten and bring justice for the victim. It is a film with so many layers and so rich in symbolism, weaving the personal, the historical, the passionate and the political, through the fascinating plot, tantalizing script and mesmerizing performances and...ending with the best twist ever. Arguably one of the best films ever made, in any language.
8. Carancho (2010) Dir. Pablo Trapero
In Argentina over 8,000 people die in traffic accidents every year. Behind each of these tragedies is a flourishing industry founded on insurance payouts and legal loopholes. Sosa is a lawyer who tours the A&E Departments of the public hospitals and the police stations in search of potential clients. Luján is a young doctor recently arrived from the provinces. Their love story kicks off one night when Luján and Sosa meet in the street. She’s trying to save a man’s life; he wants him on his client portfolio…
9. Las Acacias (2011) Dir. Pablo Gerogelli
Winner of the Caméra d'Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, this delicate, almost dialogue-free, tender road movie follows Rubén, a middle-aged truck driver, slowly falling for Jacinta, an illegal immigrant on the long drive from Paraguay to Argentina. With few words spoken, two bruised adults gradually learning to open up, trust a little and maybe find something more to life than just getting by. As the truck closes in on Buenos Aires and the end of the road looms, the opportunities to confess their feelings to each other dwindle, leaving the viewer desperate for the two not let this small fleeting opportunity for happiness pass them both by. A master class in low-key but wholly effective acting, rarely does a film manage to say so much through so little.
10. El Cuidadano Ilustre (The Distinguished Citizen) 2016 Dir. Gastón Duprat, Mariano Cohn
Jaded by the praise and tiresome invitations lavished upon him as a Nobel Literature Prize winner, Daniel Mantovani (Oscar Martinez) finally accepts an invitation to go back to his hometown in provincial Argentina, to be awarded the prize of ‘distinguished citizen’. As soon as the famous author touches down in the town he left decades before, a chain of increasingly bizarre and hilarious events ensue, including being paraded around on a fire engine by the mayor, with a bust and a painted mural of himself and having to judge a local art competition. As he is dragged into the lives of the people and places of his past, things escalate out of his control, in the most hilarious way. A wonderfully original and funny script, packed with keen observations and intriguing ideas, delivered by outstanding performances, this is a film that totally absorbs you in its characters and has you laughing out loud, not always clear whether at Mantovani himself or the townspeople.
