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If I told you that in 1999, in the last year of the 20th century, exactly 18 years after the Falklands War between Argentina and the United Kingdom, a group of no more than 7 people (of Argentinean nationality) managed to enter the British archipelago, south of Argentina, in groups of pairs of 2 from different points of South America, with the explicit aim of filming the first feature film of that American nation in lands that to this day are claimed by both countries; with the explicit aim of filming the first feature film of that American nation in lands, which to this day are claimed by both countries; what would you say to me, that I'm making it up; that it would be impossible to do something like this, so similar to espionage? Well, this is the peculiar story of a really shady and, as the name suggests, clandestine film...
Right away, I'll provide the synopsis of the film, as it's not what's really relevant to this post. The film is about a man in his 30s, who wants revenge against the British for taking the Falkland Islands... The timeline of the film is set in 1999; at the height of the mockumentary style, which saw an undeniable boom thanks to films like The Blair Witch Project, made in this format. Anyway, the protagonist of this film comes up with the idea of going to the islands and wreaking a meticulously planned revenge. Well, getting a British woman pregnant and having her children raised as Argentinians inside the territory?
Absurd? That is undeniable. Let's remember, it's a fictional story. And I'm very, very generous when it comes to classifying it as a drama/documentary. Well, in order to make this post, I have reviewed the film, and I could honestly say that it is an unclassifiable film. In fact, one could even say that it is a genre in itself. A work, which inaugurates a bit a new genre. But let's go back to the plot: starting from the idea of revenge, the film must have felt like an act of rebellion, espionage or unethical filming techniques. Since, in those years, Argentines were not allowed to enter the territory with video or photographic material...
Now, once the protagonist of the film is inside the Falkland Islands, he begins his completely normal day. He wakes up, brushes his teeth, eats breakfast, smokes cigarettes, looks at the landscape, walks around the places of interest (like a tourist) and starts asking the locals little questions, such as "what do they think about the conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom" or "do they really feel British?" .... Let's remember that Fabián's objective, which is the name of one of the two main characters (the other is a woman, of English nationality, but I will develop this later) is to impregnate the women of the island so that their offspring identify themselves as Argentines....
Additionally, the film is tremendously offensive to the islanders. Let's remember that the idea is based on an Argentinean sense of belonging to this group of islands, which, from the South American country's point of view, belongs to them... Evidently, the footage is made with very rudimentary video cameras, hidden in clothes or utensils. Let's not forget, it's more like a video blog than a documentary. It also feels very murky... Because at times it could have similarities to Borat but at others, it seems like extremely acid humour in an unclassifiable format.
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The fact is, the length of this film is not long. It can be found on YouTube, legally. Uploaded many, many years ago by the authors of the original film. However, seen with the laws of current morality, it could be classified as extreme madness... Since, in the final scene, we can see how "Fabian" (one of the two main characters in the film) is being watched. Yes, literally, it is a film with 2 protagonists) carries out his "revenge" and does it in a way that is totally reprehensible (and that was acted, it didn't happen in real life).
I won't say what it does, because I hate to promote spoilers, but it's definitely not easy to watch or understand. It is extremely amateurish from a technical point of view. It lacks a script in its entirety, and the closest thing I can compare it to is a current YouTube video... But let's remember that this is before the boom of the internet and social media. Not to mention, F. Stratas, director, producer, and actor of the film, has said in interviews that they did it all with a tourist film crew (video camera), a small microphone, which was worn on Stratas' own clothes, and with the risk of being accused of being spies by the locals...
Although the plot is absurd, it makes no sense from any point of view, but the morbidity of this film lies in the ease with which an Argentinian production was made, illegally, on English soil. Using satire, dark comedy or coarse sarcasm towards the English? However, I think it is a jewel of Latin cinema. Because it shows a format and a genre character that really makes you think... It lacks ethics, elaboration and logical sense, but it still turns out to be a finished product. 120 minutes is the length of this film, you can watch it on YouTube, but I warn you that although it looks like a Vlog, it is not. It's a film, it's not real, even if it contains unpleasant and reprehensible scenes.
