INVESTIGADORES
ZYLBERMAN Lior Alejandro
capítulos de libros
Título:
The question of the act
Autor/es:
LIOR ZYLBERMAN
Libro:
Evoking Genocide
Editorial:
The Key Publishing House
Referencias:
Lugar: Toronto; Año: 2009; p. 200 - 203
Resumen:
In his documentary on American cinema, Martin Scorsese includes a rather unacademic category: 'the director as smuggler'. It comprises directors who engage in social criticism and analyze uncomfortable issues in the hidden core of society, by relating commonplace stories and themes that enable them to speak of the unspeakable. 'The Act in Question', directed by Alejandro Agresti,is in this tradition. Through allegory and hidden symbolism, Agresti transforms the film into a commentary on the Argentine 'desaparecidos' (disappeared) and repression during the military dictatorship of 1976-83. If the film can be singled out as unique in its genre, this is due not only to its formalism, but to the impact it has had on an issue that is the most controversial and difficult to address in Argentine cinema. Many films have attempted a serious treatment of the issue, but Agresti -and this is what lends the film its impact- succeeds through the use of an extended metaphor, the true motives of which are concealed. In short, he acts like a 'smuggler'.Filmed in his Dutch period, in exquisite black-and-white and in Spanish with Argentine actors, Agresti’s film anticipated by ten years the growth of interest in memories, and the examination of the genocide perpetrated by Argentina’s last military dictatorship.