O Jogo de Arcibel

"El juego de Arcibel" ("Arcibel's Game" in English) is set in a fictional country but is probably influenced by Argentina's history, namely the Dirty War of the 1970s. The protagonist is an apolitical columnist arrested by a military junta due to a misunderstanding of an article. Even after the junta collapses he doesn't get released due to the records having gotten lost. In other words, prison is where he truly finds out who he is.

Alberto Lecchi's movie is certainly an unusual look at life under a dictatorship. Usually the focus is on political opponents targeted by the regime, but here we see the effect on an apparently neutral person. It's appropriate to incorporate chess into the story, as chess is an analysis of medieval Europe (and any hierarchical society): the pawns represent the common people, and they're considered expendable. It was Stanley Kubrick's favorite game, and he incorporated its theme of a power structure into "Paths of Glory" and "Dr. Strangelove".

Anyway, an interesting movie. Another Argentine movie dealing with life under a dictatorship (actually focusing on the Disappeared under the Dirty War, in fact) is the Academy Award-winning film "The Official Story".