Iluminados por el fuego

Iluminados Por El Fuego is a cruel and real story about a tragic war between Argentina and Great Britain, struggling for the Islas Malvinas in the South Atlantic. That was decided by Argentinean Military Government in 1982 in order to gain popularity among citizens trying to distract attention in a moment where Argentina was close to a civil war. Any strategic or tactic analysis of that tragic war will explain all the mistakes that put Argentina in disadvantage to win the war, but the movie itself shows the cruel reality that lived the 17 and 18 year old recruit soldiers, today still suffering war veterans. Iluminados Por El Fuego shows perfectly how the boys (because the were just boys) lived a war they didn't ask for, suffered a war they were not ready to face or fight, with almost no food, no weapons and no training. The movie shows how the boys of war became today's suffering veterans struggling to survive with no help, trying to live alone in a country that seems to be ignorant to the terrible reality they lived. Iluminados Por El Fuego is, 23 years after the war, the very first real important Movie about Malvinas War, a clear example of how human life can be so cheap.

As I lived in the UK for a long time, I had mostly heard/seen about the Falklands War from a Briiths perspective. Tried to find a movie from the Argentine perspective, and this came up.

It shows the experience of three young recruits sent to the Falklands, cutting between their experiences there on the islands and back in modern day Argentina, as the suicide attempt of one of them reunites him with an old war buddy.

The film largely focuses on the futility of war, and how the soldiers do not want to be in this fight that they have no interest in, and where their own commanders mistreat them. The film doesn't try to make a political statement, it focuses on the human side of things.

It was very interesting to see this perspective, but the film was clearly done on a limited budget. I'd say the production values were of a cheap made for TV feature. But what lifted it up a bit was that there were some scenes actually filmed on the Falklands, which was interesting to see.

The first real movie about Malvinas war, telling the cruel way the incompetent heads of the Argentinian army sent those boys to a war they didn't want to go. And the movie is short telling the real story, which was worst than it is depicted here. Frozen, hungry boys, fighting a war for keeping in their throne the decadent military government. Acting is of good standard. Gaston Pauls confirm his great moment, and the moods and language of the Argentinean military men is very well depicted. The war scenes are not so good, but you can feel the frozen wind in your feet when the soldiers are waiting for the enemy. No love to motherland, no hating the enemy, only waiting for an early ending, and back home to mom, girlfriend, and family. No special effects, no needing of it. You get involved with the characters, in a very special way. The storytelling is quite slow, but accordingly with the interminable waiting for the enemy, in that frozen tundra, with inadequate equipment. Iluminados por el fuego is not a documentary film for those interested in history, but a testimony of the useless suffering of those soldiers. Don't expect CGI and special effects as in "Saving Private Ryan". This is real life, and it hurts.

When Alberto Vargas (Pablo Riva) tried to commit suicide , this brings up his old soldier buddy called Esteban Leguizamón (Gaston Pauls) some old records . As Vargas attempted to commit suicide after suffering from years of depression brought on by his experiences in the war , as Leguizamón mentions that over 290 veterans had committed suicide after the war, and indicates that this is the same as the name number of casualties there during the war . As Esteban returns to Falklands islands where took place Guerra De las Malvinas, also known as the Falklands Conflict, Falklands Crisis and the Guerra del Atlántico Sur , Spanish for "South Atlantic War" .

It's a good film, a cool Argentina/Spain co-production recreating the shortages of a group of Argentinian soldiers in Las Malvinas , the offensive by British navy and what happened during those desperate days . Stirring images by means of flashbacks accompanied with roaring battle scenes . The making was a logistical problem as almost that of setting up a campaign and putting a film together under any circumstances was very difficult because working under pretty bad conditions. This thought-provoking film is not a total description of such an important war but it is a context in which the battle offers the concrete development , life and death , a few men who are mistreated by a sergeant , suffering pains , starving and many other things . It's well recreated by the director Tristan Bauer , but adding shoot footage . Good acting by the main actor , Gaston Pauls as an Argentinian man who brings up old memories . He was born in Buenos Aires City , Distrito Federal, Argentina and is a nice actor and producer, known for Nueve Reinas (2000), and Felicidades (2000) and this Iluminados Por el Fuego (2005) or Blessed of fire .

The motion picture was rightly based on real events , though the characters are fictitious, those are the following : Guerra de Malvinas was a ten-week war between Argentina and the United Kingdom over two British overseas territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands . There the Argentine casualties during the war totalled 649, of which 321 were killed when the General Belgrano was sunk . It began on Friday 2 April 1982 when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands in an attempt to establish the sovereignty it has long claimed over them. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, returning the islands to British control. 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and 3 Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities. The conflict was a major episode in the protracted historical confrontation over the territories' sovereignty. Argentina has asserted and maintains that the islands have been Argentinian territory since the 19th century and, as such, the Argentine government characterised their action as the reclamation of their own territory. The British government saw it as an invasion of territory that has been British also since the 19th century. Neither state, however, officially declared war and hostilities were almost exclusively limited to the territories under dispute and the area of the South Atlantic where they lie. The conflict has had a strong impact in both countries and has been the subject of various books, articles, films and songs. Patriotic sentiment ran high in Argentina, but the outcome prompted large protests against the ruling military government, hastening its downfall. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party government, bolstered by the successful outcome, was re-elected the following year. The cultural and political weight of the conflict has had less effect in Britain than in Argentina, where it remains a ready topic for discussion. Relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina were restored in 1989 following a meeting in Madrid, Spain, at which the two countries' governments issued a joint statement. No change in either country's position as regards the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was made explicit. In 1994, Argentina's claim to the territories was added to its constitution.

Not many war films are made about the terrors of the Falkland, or Malvinas, war. Neither are war films as poignant and thought-provoking as Blessed by Fire.

War films are so regularly hybrid with other genres, whether its romance, politics, bravery, historical drama, art, or even comedy. This can make them entertaining, such as Apocalypse Now, or silly, like Pearl Harbour. Done to make more sales, make a political statement, to boast a big budget or glamorise real warfare, it's always a gamble if the war film is worth watching.

I was pleased to have come across Blessed by Fire. I hadn't heard much about it but I was interested in watching a movie about the Falklands War. It's told from the Argentine perspective and based on the memoirs of the soldier, Esteban Leguizamón, played by Gastón Pauls. Twenty years after the war, Leguizamón is contacted to visit his old comrade Alberto Vargas (Pablo Ribba) who is in a coma after attempted suicide. Through flashbacks and newsreels, Leguizamón remembers the ill-treatment by superiors, how his friends would talk of their futures, families and livelihoods, their fear of the invading British armies, and the dank conditions they were living in. It also touches on the neglect soldiers face after the war from their government – bad pensions and no career options. What it does magnificently is touch on the mental horrors of war - the anger and psychological scars that war causes – and without a glamorisation in sight. Another political issue it touches on at the end is the live mines and rusting ammunition left over beautiful landscapes, and how nothing has been done to get rid of them. The political slant against Maggie Thatcher and her reasons for war are thrown in there – whether it's for good measure, I'm unsure. But the result of the war has tarnished political relations between Britain and Argentina for many years, and it is a sensitive issue, particularly for Argentineans.

It was a film made on a budget, so some of the acting is slightly amateur – but believable. The special affects are okay, but in moments of excitement, the lighting doesn't always make it clear what is going on. However, the sets are gloomy enough to be realistic and the photography of the Falklands is fantastic.

It's a symbol of what war is really about. Not the most exciting. But realism and heroism, without glamour. I give this film 9!