LA AMIGA

Germany/ Argentina 1988

35 mm, colour, 109 min, Spanish with English subtitles and a dubbed German version

Summary:

This film is a story of a close, but complex friendship between two women against the backdrop of the military dictatorship. They swear everlasting friendship and promise to become actresses. Twenty years later, Raquel has indeed become a famous Argentine actress. Maria is married to an electrician and has three children.
1976. The military take over the government. Carlos, Maria's oldest son, is taken away by a special commando. Despairing, Maria turns to her influential girlfriend, Raquel. The two women begin their search for Carlos. The two go to police departments, barracks, official bureaus. But nobody will give them information. And those who ask questions are themselves suspicious. Raquel is also threatened.
Raquel leaves the country. She goes to Germany, to Berlin, the town her family was forced to leave when Hitler came to power. In the meantime, Maria joins the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo - a group of Argentine women all looking for missing members of their families. The two women do not see each other again until Maria comes to Germany to meet a friend of her missing son. Raquel realizes how much Maria has changed, how self-confident and uncompromising this shy woman from the suburbs has become. The old friendship is still there, but the differences in their opinions and attitudes to life have widened.
December 1983. The military dictatorship in Argentina comes to an end and Raquel returns to Buenos Aires. Frightened and insecure, she tries to adapt and to look forward. She wishes her girlfriend would also give up her demands. She urges Maria to accept that Carlos is dead. Maria refuses: her son is not dead, he is "missing". Nothing should be forgotten, so that nothing can be repeated.

Press comments:

"This is a political film in the best sense, dramatising the effect of ideology and its application on human feelings and relationships. The treatment, moreover, is fully worthy of the theme. Ullmann (successfully dubbed) and Linkovsky shared the best actress award for their performances [1988 San Sebastian Film Festival]."
The Guardian, London (Tim Pulleine, May of 1991)

"Aesthetically, 'La Amiga' has much to offer, with richly textured scenes of life in Buenos Aires and Berlin. The filmmaker's eye travels through the story in an inventive montage of everyday details..."
The Northern Califonia Jewish Bulletin (Marianne Goldsmith, July 21, 1989)

"When so many films those days seem to have precious little in the way of either style or content, it is doubly reassuring to find one with both. (...) The atmosphere of violence is the more powerfully conveyed for being mainly suggested, and the narrative is elliptical without becoming obscure ..."
The Guardian Guide, London (May 18, 1991)