Garage Olimpo

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.

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

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.

Is well known for much the story of the dictatorship in Latin America, specially in the south side. This begin in 1976, and is no more than one of the most embarrassing times for any of this countries. Time where innocent, young and old, people who only fight for its rights were tortured in the most horrible ways, with none rake of hope or life. There some movie which treat this topic, "Garage Olimpo" is one of them, is a movie that don't treat a easy thing, is a film that must fight with memory and with the bloody past of us, the Latin American people.

"Garage Olimpo" told us the story of María, a beautiful young woman who lives in a big house with her mother and a tenant called Félix in the military dictatorship. She teach to old people and too, with other people, fight against the military repression. One day she is taken by some men and go then to a kind of Garage, hide down earth. She now must live horrible tortures by these men, and one of them is Félix. This is a kind of sipnosis for this hard movie. As a Latin American, "Garage Olimpo" was one of the greatest, if not one of the hardest, experiences of my life. This is not a film for fun, or something like that, you must see it with a clean mind, ready and with no kind of worries, i think every movie must see it in that way.

Some of the countries that suffer more this was Argentina, Chile and Urugay, between others. It was a hard moment, bloody and really full of injustice, and now, years after, is a situation that really shame much of us, and "Garage Olimpo" is one that Must See and Must Feel experiences, because make you take on count of a lot of things, and is exactly a prove, a response of a lot of the injustices in this moment. There was in 1986 another movie called "La Noche de los lápices", another masterpiece which treat this topic, also in Argentina, but the difference here, is that "Garage Olimpo" doesn't makes you tremble so much as think and too feel really bad.

"Garage Olimpo" is a sad experience because shown us a city (This was explained by director Marco Bechis who live too some of this dictatorship) divided in two -You feel this all the time with takes of Buenos Aires at night and at day - : Up, the cars move really normal, the kid play and the grown ups work, all is very normal. At the same time, down, people is abused, is sick and without any chance of see, and no thanks to a blanket which cover their eyes, is because, in middle of darkness, they can't see another future better than suffer and finally death. This film shown us a reality that, unfortunately, is see it here, in Colombia, in Argentina, in Latin America, in all the world.

"Garage Olimpo" is not only an historical achievement, is too a movie for the memory and hearts for the Latin American. Is a movie that get stuck in your mind telling you that something must to change. This is not a positive film, seeing that kind of things, there's not something positive to say.

*Sorry for the mistakes...well, if there any.

As a person who suffered enormously at the hands of military establishment in Argentina, director Marco Bechis is the best person to know more about his film "Garage Olimpo". He wrote this film with his long time collaborator Lara Fremder who has already worked with him for three films. This film gives vivid details about what exactly happened in one of the torture cells in Buenos Aires where innocent people were subjugated to the worst forms of physical suffering. The film presents some good views of Buenos Aires as one gets to see big modern buildings on one side and shanty towns on the other side. On the surface level everything appears to be normal and it is only the relatives of the tortured people who are shown as facing tough times. Although the torture cell is portrayed in a detailed manner, Marco Bechis ensures that it does not become graphic. This is the reason why the torture is not at all glorified but merely depicted as one of the dirty tricks employed by the military to control its political opponents. The film is gripping as it shows that everybody is involved including the religious priest. One also gets to see that there are no loyalties and nobody could be trusted. It is towards the end that one gets a better idea of the evil designs of Argentine military establishment who chose to carry innocent people on its planes in order to drop them alive in the water. Despite having been chosen for "Un Certain Regard" section at Cannes International Film Festival 1999 and a theatrical release in France, this autobiographical film by Marco Bechis deserves to be known better as it carries the important message that human rights are important in order to stop the persecution of innocent people.