A brutal military dictatorship goes on trial in Oscar contender ‘Argentina, 1985’
In one of the most brutal military coups in Latin America’s recent history, a group of officers from the Argentine junta attempt to usurp the presidency, only to be thwarted by a handful of dissidents. The film is based on a true story and stars Pablo Trapero, who plays a role in this week’s Oscar ceremony.
In the wake of a military coup d’etat in Argentina, a soldier named Pablo Trapero (played by Hollywood newcomer Pablo Trapero) leads a rebellion of soldiers who are dissatisfied with the junta’s efforts to tighten the military grip on the country. Pablo had been an officer in a unit called “Operation Condor,” which was the “air wing” of the “National Guard” of the junta established by Augusto Pinochet’s Augusto Cesar Sandino in 1973. The men in Operation Condor were called “Special Forces” and were trained and financed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Trapero’s rebel force is commanded by colonel Guillermo Ochoa (played by the late and legendary actor Marcelino Mastroianni), who is the son of the founder of the National Guard, Colonel Juan Ochoa, who is himself a veteran of the U.S. Army’s Special Forces. Pablo’s first battle is with a group of junta officers led by general Leopoldo Guevara (played by the late, acclaimed actor Carlos Lopez de Mendoza, whose death was recently announced). The rebels are successful in their revolt, and Ochoa is named Supreme Commander of the rebel forces.
But the junta’s attempt to take control of the government is quashed when Pablo discovers the identity of Ochoa’s chief of staff, Jose Miguel