La historia oficial

Cinema is rooted in invention and therefore so too is the historical film, according to Rosenstone.

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INVENTION
false invention                                                                                                                                                   true invention

REALITY ANCHORED IN FANTASY                                                                                                         REALITY ANCHORED IN MIMESES

All of the assigned historical films occupy what we might call a
hybrid middle space where
fantasy and mimesis
overlap and blend.

Even though Andrés Wood claims that Machuca was inspired by his personal experiences,
the film fits Rosenstone’s definition of false invention, as does the story of Alicia’s awakening in La historia oficial.
The neorealism of Machuca and La historia oficial push them more to the right side of the spectrum.

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Alicia’s awakening in La historia oficial goes beyond her struggle to accept the reality of Gaby’s abduction. She also develops a healthy skepticism towards the veracity of national histories. The Argentine spectator of 1985, therefore, sees a character who at first rejects–but later comes to accept–the validity of her students’ characterization of national histories as ideological propaganda as, ironically, she toils to uncover the truth about Gaby’s adoption. The film contains several elements that, taken together, comprise a statement denouncing both the Regime’s brutality and its discursive tactics of manipulation. This much is abundantly clear.

What I think is less obvious to modern (and foreign) viewers is the way that the viewer is situated to experience Alicia’s awakening vicariously. It is an awakening that nobly modeled for the thousands of foster mothers implicated in the forced adoptions such things as intellectual honesty, ethical conduct, and solidarity. The film makes a point to show just how difficult and destructive the journey will be for any woman who makes the decision to do the right thing: It shows us that, for Alicia, it destroyed her happy marriage and almost got her killed. The film doesn’t tell us what will be Gaby’s fate; and nor did Argentines know what would become of the thousands of stolen children.

The film has an unmistakable appeal to the Regime’s opposition and to anyone who rejects dictatorial rule on principle; but more amazingly, it tells a story of complicity that is directed toward its privileged viewers, those who have little trouble seeing themselves in Alicia in one form or another. Therefore, La historia oficial is less about capturing the historical moment and more about awakening a critical consciousness in its viewers. It deals a blow to respectable Argentines’ will to believe whatever best suits their interests, especially when it comes to the Regime and its crimes against humanity.