An Exercise In Nonsense

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

This epic movie is emotional and sad. Most war movies are about winners, but this one is exactly the opposite. I don't think that I have ever seen any movies made from Argentina, I hope that I can see more in the future.Now, here are some of the problems of this movie. Some scenes seem to be too long, I lost a little interest in watching. For example, the night scene when they were running away from the British offense. There was no scenes about the British soldiers, so it seems as if they were just running away from nothing although it was quite bloody.Scenes change from current time to the war time, it got a little confusing. Some of the scenes were too dark, i can't hardly see anything on my TV.The condition which the soldiers have to live was horrible, if they had better equipment and food, they could have won the war. I feel sorry that Argentina lost this war. And it is probably interesting to see how each country calls that island. In China, that island is still named after the name Argentina uses.

In short: one-dimensional characters, not good actors, more a propaganda against this particular war than a real movie. Young conscripts portrayed as innocent boys who only want to play football, NCO's and CO's portrayed as sadistic, lazy, cowards, etc. It might be right, I know, but, come on! not only every war movie but every human group has good and bad persons in it (CO's, NCO's and draftees in this case). As a political opinion it might have some kind of worth but as a war movie, and a movie in general is real bad and underestimates the audience. The director is not bad, take a look to Cortázar http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109485/

Iluminados por el fuego is one of the finest anti war films.It is based on a book by Edgardo Esteban who fought at Falklands Islands as a soldier for more than 50 days.It is a sad tale of a journalist Esteban Leguizamón (Gastón Pauls) who is informed that his colleague at war Vargas (Pablo Ribba) has attempted to commit suicide as he was disturbed due to recurrent images of war.Esteban visits his colleague at hospital.This sad visit forces him to go back to the memories of the past.Argentinian auteur Tristan Bauer acquaints viewers with one of the most stupid wars waged at Falkland Islands (Islas Malavinas) in 1982 between Argentina and United Kingdom.Falklands war was horrendous for Argentina can be explained from the fact that it was responsible for the killing of more than 400 soldiers due to suicide.It is believed that some 267 soldiers lost their lives while they were defending the false pride of Argentina.Tristan Bauer shows us the madness of a futile war.His film proves that when a soldier dies, humanity also loses with him.Tristan Bauer is highly critical of Argentinian army generals who are shown as cowards.He tells that young soldiers have no choice but are forced to die for their motherland.

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.