''A Wall of Silence'' ( es, Un muro de silencio, italics=yes) is a 1993 Argentine
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
starring
Vanessa Redgrave
Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, tw ...
. The film concerns a turbulent period in Argentine history, the National Reorganization Process as well as the responsibility of artists in engaging and interpreting human stories from this period. It was directed by
Lita Stantic
Élida Stantic (born April 7, 1942), and more commonly known and credited as Lita Stantic, is an Argentine cinema film producer, producer, screenplay writer, and film director, director.
Stantic is one of the most important producers working in t ...
and released theatrically in Argentina on 10 June 1993. It was also screened later that year at the
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...
. It was released as ''Black Flowers'' in some English territories.
Plot
Kate (Redgrave) is a British film director on location in Argentina that traces the story of Silvia (Medina). Silvia has a dark past, stemming from the turbulent time when she endured her husband's
forced disappearance
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a State (polity), state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or po ...
during the
Dirty War
The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 as ...
. Silvia wants to move on with her life and concentrate on her family. But she is eventually persuaded into reliving her painful past.
Cast
*
Vanessa Redgrave
Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, tw ...
as Kate Benson
*
Ofelia Medina
María Ofelia Medina Torres (born 4 March 1950) is a Mexican actress, singer and screenwriter of Mexican films. She was married to film director Alex Philips Jr. and actor Pedro Armendáriz Jr.
Biography
She was born in Mérida and has four ...
as Silvia
*
Lautaro Murúa
Lautaro Murúa (; 29 December 1926 in Tacna, Chile – 3 December 1995 in Madrid) was a Chilean- Argentine actor, film director, and screenwriter. He is one of the best known actors in the cinema of Argentina.
Born in Chile, Murúa moved ...
as Bruno
*
Lorenzo Quinteros
Lorenzo Quinteros (14 June 1945 – 23 April 2019) was an Argentine cinema and theatre actor.
Born in Córdoba Province, Quinteros has appeared in many films since his debut in '' Alianza para el progreso'' in 1971. His reputation as a talented ...
*
Soledad Villamil
Soledad Villamil (born June 19, 1969 in La Plata) is an Argentine film and television actress and singer. She has won two Carlos Gardel Awards, Argentine equivalent of American Grammy Awards and British BRIT Awards besides, Goya Award for Be ...
as Ana-Laura
*
André Melançon
André Melançon (February 18, 1942 - August 23, 2016) was a Canadian actor, screenwriter and film director, best known for directing and writing several installments in the Tales for All series of children's films.
Career
The versatile André M ...
Stantic had the idea for the film as early as 1986 after an experience of working with the British actress,
Julie Christie
Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...
on '' Miss Mary''. Christie revealed to Stantic her personal experiences of having set up her life in Argentina with the intention of discovering the recent past.
It was subsequently filmed in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
and
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
's Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía (IMCINE).
Reception
The film was generally well-received, proving to be a success with Argentine film critics. Although this was a period when Argentine film audiences were more enthralled with viewing politics through the gaze of melodrama and rock music. Redgrave was praised for her performance, especially for the striking similarities betweens her character and her real-life persona as supporter of sometimes unpopular minority causes.