Garage Olimpo

In the 70's, the eighteen year-old Maria Fabiani (Antonella Costa) lives with her French mother Diane (Dominique Sanda) in an old house in Buenos Aires, subletting rooms and giving classes to illiterate adults in the slums. One of the tenants, Felix (Carlos Echevarría), has a non-corresponded crush on Maria. When the teenager is abducted in her house by the Argentinean army accused of subversion, her mother seeks her out in the 23rd Precinct where one of the military without uniform tells her that they are heading with Maria. While Diane desperately tries to find information about her daughter, Maria is submitted to torture in the hideous underground of the Garage Olimpo. Out of the blue, Felix and she meet each other in the interrogation room and Maria finds that he is one of her torturers. Felix protects Maria the best he can while the prisoner develops the Stockholm Syndrome to her hostage-taker.

"Garage Olimpo" has just been released on DVD in Brazil and depicts the dark age of Argentina in the late 70's and early 80's (and also in most South America – Brazil, Chile and Uruguay), when the military governments sponsored by the United States of America disrupted the human rights of the civilian societies and promoted coup d'état and takeover, toppling the governments elected by people. In Argentina, the common practice was the torture and subsequent death of the militants that were drugged and then dropped in the sea by military airplanes, with their children given for adoption especially in the period 1976-1983. In Argentina, the unofficial number of missing persons in accordance with Human Rights Organizations is about 30,000 people. In Brazil, the number of people arrested by the military government was between 50,000 and 70,000 and in the present days, after the amnesty that protected mainly the torturers, there are still 140 missing persons. Garage Olimpo shows this procedure through the relationship of Maria with Felix, and also the desperation of her mother. Later, the Argentinean mothers of missing people have become human rights activists and formed the organization "Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo" with the goal of finding their kidnapped children. Therefore, Garage Olimpo is a must-see especially for the youngest generations that might be not aware of the horrors of this period. The Brazilian DVD does not translate the last sentence in the movie accurately. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Garage Olimpo"

Bechis masters both camera and music to create an unbearable atmosphere of repression. Rarely have I seen such overpowering scenes deftly juxtaposed with banal shots of everyday city streets, effectively highlighting the urgent, yet hidden nature of political dissent. Not for the lighthearted, but for those willing to endure a gut-wrenching film for the sake of experiencing the tragic reality of what actually happened in Argentina, Chile and, more disturbingly, what probably is going on right now in places like Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, even as you read this. I definitely think films like this should be shown as a counterweight to the current sanitized version mainstream media feeds us, after being put through the hell of the concentration camp style 'garage olimpo', I doubt anyone would believe much in the hollow promises of militaristic presidents ever again.

I watched this absolutely gruesome film sixteen years ago now and I still remember it. I know that there were many films made about Chilia and Argentina dictatorship regimes, but unfortunately most of them did not reach France. Only a batch were available. This one is far better than COLONIA, speaking of Chilia and made for wide audiences, with the happy end which silly sissies crave for. I don't. How can you forget those unbearable scenes of torture whilst torturers' colleagues play ping pong in the backyard?...Of course this film, GARAGE OLIMPO is not destined for wide audiences, not for the squeamish.

If you have not seen it yet, run for it. It is available on DVD.

It may be of interest to note that the final sequence aboard the 'Hercules' aircraft of the 'Fuerza Aerea Argentina' was actually shot using a private plane which the director rented off a collector and had painted with Argentine Airforce colors and codes. The Argentine military had no intention to lend a plane, despite the atrocities committed 30 years ago. The City of Buenos Aires, cosmopolitan and civilized as it is, retains a large amount of its 'garages', to this day, although thankfully put to different use. A chilling list of the major torture centerers can be seen by the casual tourist within the walls of the Centro Cultural Recoleta, in Plaza Francia, City Centre. To this day torture cells are being uncovered.

I'm not sure this movie will be released where you're reading this comment,but if it is, please,go and see it. you have to. Be prepared though: It's very intense and disturbing, and when it is over you will feel dirty, soiled,shocked. This is a film about Argentina under the Military regime of the late '70s. This is a movie about the desaparecidos, Argentinian citizens kidnapped from their homes from the police and the military,tortured and imprisoned to extort information from them and then, finally, killed, most of the times thrown in the ocean from a plane while doped. Their crime? Trying to fight this regime. The film is almost perfect:great screenplay,great cast,great direction. Essential viewing. For more than one reason. Rating:9