Up until the 1980s, films from Argentina were heavily censored by their rightist government and films critical of the system were unheard of in this country. However, when this government fell, many films critical of this old system began to proliferate and the most famous of these internationally was "The Official Story"--which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. "A Place in the World" debuted a few years later but was not submitted by the Argentines for this award--and so the filmmakers tried submitting it was a Uruguayan film! Later, the film was disqualified, since it WAS from Argentina and was about the country--a very odd footnote, as it's only one of two films every removed from consideration after submitted to the Academy.
When you watch "A Place in the World", you might not see that the message is political--and it's not nearly as obvious as in "The Official Story". Instead of being directly critical of the federal government, the film is a socialist commentary about the abuse of the landlords and the need for the common men to work together to receive equality. In this case, a jerk rich guy is intent on buying up all the farmers' wool at HIS price...or else. However, when a German geologist arrives in town, the local agitator (the school teacher) is encouraged to fight back for what is right. At the same time, the story of a sympathetic nun is a metaphor for the traditional relationship between the church and state in the land. The story is told as a flashback from the teacher's teenage son's point of view and unfolds slowly and beautifully. The acting is nice but the direction is the star to me. Well worth seeing.
When you watch "A Place in the World", you might not see that the message is political--and it's not nearly as obvious as in "The Official Story". Instead of being directly critical of the federal government, the film is a socialist commentary about the abuse of the landlords and the need for the common men to work together to receive equality. In this case, a jerk rich guy is intent on buying up all the farmers' wool at HIS price...or else. However, when a German geologist arrives in town, the local agitator (the school teacher) is encouraged to fight back for what is right. At the same time, the story of a sympathetic nun is a metaphor for the traditional relationship between the church and state in the land. The story is told as a flashback from the teacher's teenage son's point of view and unfolds slowly and beautifully. The acting is nice but the direction is the star to me. Well worth seeing.