La historia oficial (1985)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Luis Puenzo

Writers:

Aída Bortnik (written by)
Luis Puenzo (written by)

Release Date:

8 November 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Tagline:

Our Moving Story

Plot:

Alicia Marnet de Ibáñez is a high school history professor and a well-to-do housewife in Buenos Aires...

Plot Keywords:

Adopted Daughter | School | Protest Sign | Intoxication | Abuse

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 22 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Héctor Alterio	...	Roberto
Norma Aleandro	...	Alicia
Chunchuna Villafañe	...	Ana
Hugo Arana	...	Enrique
Guillermo Battaglia	...	Jose
Chela Ruíz	...	Sara
Patricio Contreras	...	Benitez
María Luisa Robledo	...	Nata
Aníbal Morixe	...	Miller
Jorge Petraglia	...	Macci
Analia Castro	...	Gaby
Daniel Lago	...	Dante
Augusto Larreta	...	General
Laura Palmucci	...	Rosa
Leal Rey	...	Cura
Floria Bloise	...	Abuela
Lidia Catalano	...	Dora
Deborah Kors
Carlos Weber	...	Andrada
José María López	...	Médico
Andrea Tenuta	...	Regina Miller
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Susana Behocaray
Cecilia Blanche
Angelica Bogué
Zulema Caldas
Eduardo Camacho
Paula Canals
Jorge Chernov
Diego Cosín
Alicia Dolinski
Horacio Erman
Mónica Escudero
Oscar Ferrigno
Luis Gianneo
Eduardo Gondell
Gabriel González
Ricardo Hamlin
Fernando Hoffman
Amparo Ibarlucia
Virginia Innocenti
Tony Middleton
Luisa Onetto
Fabian Pandolfi
Gastón Presas
Pablo Rago
Fabián Rendo
Maximiliano Reussi
Adrian Schiavelli
Jorge Sorvik
Silvia Suárez
Beatriz Thibaudin
Gustavo Tieffenberg
Marcos Woinsky
Horacio Yervé

Directed by
Luis Puenzo

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Aída Bortnik		written by
Luis Puenzo		written by

Produced by
Marcelo Piñeyro	....	producer

Original Music by
Atilio Stampone

Cinematography by
Félix Monti

Film Editing by
Juan Carlos Macías

Production Design by
Abel Facello

Set Decoration by
Adriana Sforza

Costume Design by
Ticky García Estévez

Makeup Department
Blanca Olavego	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Carlos Latreyte	....	production manager
Dolly Pussi	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Rodrigo Espinn	....	second assistant director
Raúl Outeda	....	first assistant director
Patricia Oyuela	....	assistant director

Art Department
Oreste Sacchi	....	property master

Sound Department
Omar Jadur	....	sound assistant

Camera and Electrical Department
Willi Behnisch	....	first assistant camera (as Guillermo Behnisch)
Silvio Bonda	....	electrician
Osvaldo Díaz	....	electrician
Ricardo Ormello	....	gaffer
Wilson Rodríguez	....	second assistant camera
María Inés Teyssié	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
Nilda Nacela	....	negative cutter (as Nilda Nacella)
Hugo Primero	....	assistant editor
Marta Selvi	....	negative cutter (as Marta Rosa Selvi)

Music Department
María Elena Walsh	....	composer: song "En el país de Nomeacuerdo"

Other crew
Luis Esquivel	....	production assistant
María Ester	....	modiste
Osvaldo Rousseaux	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Historias Cinematograficas Cinemania
• Progress Communications

Distributors

• Almi Pictures (1985) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• América Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Cineplex-Odeon Home Video (1986) (Canada) (VHS)
• MCA (1986) (Canada) (VHS)
• Pacific Arts (video)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)

Also Known As:

The Official History
The Official Story (USA)
The Official Version

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

Argentina

Language:

Spanish | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | New Zealand:M | Argentina:18 | Canada:R | Chile:18 | France:-12 | Italy:VM18 | Netherlands:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Company:

Historias Cinematograficas Cinemania

Trivia:

The house where Alicia, Roberto and Gaby live is actually the house of the director, Luis Puenzo.

Quotes:

Roberto: Where's Gaby, Alicia?
Alicia: Is terrible, Roberto.
Roberto: What is terrible?
Alicia: Not to know where's your daughter.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV)

Norma Aleandro in a Towering Performance

THE OFFICIAL STORY is basically the story of one woman's odyssey from complacence to political awareness. Norma Aleandro delivers a tour-de-force performance as Alicia Marnet de Ibanez, a middle-class history teacher who begins to suspect that her adopted five-year-old daughter may have been taken from political prisoners under the military junta of the late 70s-early 80s.

This is an astonishing film from the first frame to the last. I befriended an Argentine exile when I was in college, and he told me some of what had happened to his country. Lo and behold, in Luis Puenza's THE OFFICIAL STORY, the whole thing is laid bare for all the world to see...and we see it through the eyes of Alicia (Norma Aleandro), a woman who has never questioned anything about her life, yet finds herself questioning the very meaning of her life in a whopping good political and personal thriller that will keep you riveted to your seat.

One note: get the subtitled version. The dubbed version is much inferior as you do not get the full force of the incredibly powerful acting that Luis Puenza has elicited from his stunning cast.