''Invasión'' is an Argentine film released in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and directed by Hugo Santiago, who had also written the script together with

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...

and

Adolfo Bioy Casares Adolfo Bioy Casares (; 15 September 1914 – 8 March 1999) was an Argentine fiction writer, journalist, diarist, and translator. He was a friend and frequent collaborator with his fellow countryman Jorge Luis Borges. He is the author of the Fa ...

. Its style is intermediate between classic cinema and the French ''

nouvelle vague French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...

''. In a survey of the 100 greatest films of Argentine cinema carried out by the

Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken is a museum of cinema of Argentina located in Buenos Aires. It was established on 1971 and holds a collection of 65,000 reels of film. History The Cinema Museum of the City of Buenos Aires was created on O ...

in 2000, the film reached the 38th position. In a new version of the survey organized in 2022 by the specialized magazines ''La vida útil'', ''Taipei'' and ''La tierra quema'', presented at the

Mar del Plata International Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata) is an international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature fes ...

, the film reached the 2nd position.

Plot

A group of men commanded by an older man attempts to stop an invasion to the city of Aquilea. The invaders are met by common men who defend the city, ignored by the people in general, but with the development of the film it is understood that the invasion is absolute and impossible to define. The defeat of the defenders is evident from the beginning, as in the "

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...

Characters

* ''Don Porfirio'', played by

Juan Carlos Paz Juan Carlos Paz (5 August 1897 – 26 August 1972) was an Argentine composer and music theorist. Paz was born in Buenos Aires, either in 1897 or in 1901, where he studied piano with Roberto Nery and composition with Constantino Gaito and Eduar ...

: He is the head of the defenders. He calls one by one, giving them the instructions, but he also has other plans. * ''Julián Herrera'', played by

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 ...

: Commands the men who fight the invaders. Flat Hero, without visible emotions, almost the prototype of the Borgean '' compadrito''. * ''Irene'', played by

Olga Zubarry Olga Zubarry (30 October 1929 – 15 December 2012) was a classic Argentine actress who appeared in film between 1943 and 1997. She made over 60 appearances in film, spanning 6 decades of Argentine cinema, but is best known for her work during t ...

: Herrera's wife, has a double life, and the discovery of this double life was the final surprise of the film.

Production

Part of the film was shot in the Boca Juniors stadium.

History

Some negative rolls were lost during the Argentine dictatorship of 1976–1983. The film was restored in France in the 1990s using the surviving negatives and lower-quality positives. Invasión was premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival during the first Directors Fortnight and won an award later in 1969 at the Locarno International Film Festival.

Connections

* The city: The story speaks of

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 ...

, calling it Aquilea. * El Eternauta: The invaders arrive to Buenos Aires, defended by a dispersed group, that knows that the defense is impossible, and the final victory of the invaders by their large number was used in the comic strip ''El Eternauta'' of Héctor Germán Oesterheld of 1957. * The

: The epic of the defeated begins to

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

References

External links

*
Invasión
on "The Garden of Forking Paths" Borges site.

in czech

(critica)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Invasion 1960s avant-garde and experimental films 1969 films Dystopian films Argentine independent films Political drama films 1960s Spanish-language films Films directed by Hugo Santiago Films shot in Buenos Aires