Imagining Argentina (film)

Plot synopsis

During the last civil-military dictatorship in Argentina, the military government is abducting those opposed to its rule. Cecilia, a dissident journalist living in Buenos Aires, is kidnapped by the secret police to join the ranks of the disappeared. Cecilia had earlier published a provocative article in her outrage over the forced disappearance of students protesting the bus fares.

As her husband Carlos, a theatre director, begins to search frantically for her, he realizes that he has acquired psychic power that enables him to predict the future. This not only puts Carlos in high demand by those who have also lost a loved one, it also helps Carlos foresee what happens to his wife and other detainees. At one point, Carlos visits the Naval Mechanics School, the notorious torture center.

Cast

Reception

Peter Bradshaw for The Guardian wrote: "well, what can I say about something destined to be a cult classic of awfulness? Imagining Argentina is an excruciatingly misjudged attempt to impose a layer of occult spirituality on an important political subject... The spectacle of Banderas exercising his sensitive magic powers, intercut with Thompson getting horribly raped and beaten - with close-ups on her droll, quizzical face contorted in agony - is truly wince-making".