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I appreciate the impulse to expose the political situation of 1970s Argentinia through a Quixotic hero. Unfortunately, the standards of upper-level governance fought to be upheld in this film include forcible confinement, physical assault, verbal assault, and disrespect of female superiors, and do not seem far, or even sometimes distinguishable, from the political endorsement of criminal activity condemned throughout the rest of the film. Rape/murder is portrayed as a fascination (artfully posed corpse, melancholic husband) which finally inspires the rekindling of love. Really, a picaresque genre would have suited the directorial motives far better than the Victorian detective novel. Further, there is no need to revert to the Dark Ages, when "the evil eye" was enough evidence to burn victims at the stake.
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I loved the movie. I also loved your review! Two sides to everything, eh.
WARNING: This comment is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
Click here to show this comment. Finishing your PhD, violbiol? The question is: Did you enjoy it, or did your excessive knowledge interfere with your ability to let go and suspend your disbelief? I didn't find the rape scene fascinating at all--in fact, it was filmed in a way that made most viewers I sat with cringe. It was horrific, and the reason the corpse was laid out that way was to show the tenderness and pity that the sleuth feels for her and her ordeal. The machismo is cultural and historical. So it goes--we don't, fortunately or unfortunately (I'm no longer sure) live in a perfectly sterilized, sanitized p. c. environment, and if a film happens to be a period piece, well, why should it be artificially p. c. or foster values that just weren't there to begin with. You also miss the point about the evil eye. The point was simply that one's passion is visible in one's eyes; that our eyes betray our soul. And, finally, in our postmodern world, who looks too closely at categories and genres? You analyze too forcibly, I'm afraid.