Garage Olimpo

This film is set in Argentina at the end of the 70's but it could be set anywhere in anytime. As soon as Maria gets kidnapped by the army, the film changes to an unbearable, uncomfortable and quite minimalist atmosphere.

The structure of the film itself brings out the complexity of resistance and engagement : the act of Ana arouses our sympathy at the beginning of the film but causes the death of Maria at the end of it. Also, the beautiful shots of the sea and of Buenos Aires taking from a plane turn out to be horrific as they suggest the death of the Disappeared.

The scenes where Felix, her torturer, takes Maria out from the Garage are well done and exceptional. The author shows the unconcern, thoughtlessness and happiness of the people who care more about the world cup as if nothing was happening, and show in the same time the terror of Maria's face with her eyes trying to find a way out. The relationship between Felix and Maria doesn't fall into the sentimental stereotype and is quite secondary. Maria knows that Felix is her only chance of survival, she plays the game but will never love never.

When I saw this film there were only 3 of us in the cinema. It was as if I saw it alone, in the dark in front of this story. I had a strange feeling when I came out and I will never forget this film.

My friend who is a psychiatrist working with torture survivors had experienced his first panic attack while watching this movie.

I did not. But I use the nick "garageolympo" since I saw the film.

The film explains what to expect from military regimes, blood, misery, lies and death.

I recommend who love this movie: Noche de los lápices, La (1986) (night of pencils) and may be "missing" and "Z" by Costa Gavras.

I live in a country in which people experience torture and pressure, So I liked this film to tell our anonymous story.

Bechis is a good example of the best Costa Gavras that you could ever see. This very dark Argentinian period is photographed with a very clean and doubtless hand. Do not leave anything pending, Bechis's position is quite clear and naked. The reality given by certain scenes could remember you some of those films shot in "film veritè" technique. The only critic that I could say about the film is that I would have prefer to get into deeper details of certain characters of the reasons why they decided to be torturers and follow certain life. A film that will not be forgotten, much less commercial than "Missing" of Costa Gavras. A fist in the stomach. Rating: 7

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"

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.