FILM 3: Infancia clandestina / Clandestine Childhood, dir. Benjamín Avila, 2011. (KANOPY)

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https://www.kanopy.com/en/washington/video/5724028 Links to an external site.

Infancia Clandestina / A Clandestine Childhood (Argentina, 2011)

Dir. Benjamín Avila   Writers: Benjamín Avila, Marcelo Müller (screenplay)

Cast:

Teo Gutiérrez Moreno      Juan alias Ernesto Estrada

Natalia Oreiro                 Cristina alias Charo

César Troncoso               Horacio alias Daniel

Ernesto Alterio                Uncle Beto

Cristina Banegas             Grandmother Amalia

Violeta Palukas               María

“Argentina, 1979. After years of exile, Juan and his family come back to Argentina under fake identities. Juan's parents and his ‘Uncle Beto’ are members of the Montoneros Organization, which is fighting against the Military Junta that rules the country. Because of their political activities they are being tracked down relentlessly, and the threat of capture and even death is constant. However, Juan's daily life is also full of warmth and humor, and he quickly and easily integrates into his new environment. His friends at school and the girl he has a gigantic crush on, Maria, know him as Ernesto, a name he must not forget, since his family's survival is at stake. Juan accepts this and follows all of his parents' rules until one day he is told that they need to move again immediately, and leave his friends and Maria behind without an explanation. This is a story about militancy, undercover life, and love. The story of a clandestine childhood.” Written by Film Movement (Links to an external site.)

Questions

  1. What atmosphere is created by the sound track and cinematography?
  2. What is the protagonist’s name and what is his pseudonym? What historical ‘Juan’ and ‘Ernesto’ is he named for?
  3. In what sense is this film about coming of age? How does it compare to other coming of age films you have seen, including Kamchatka?
  4. How are the militant parents and the larger militant ‘family’ or community portrayed in the film?
  5. Why have Juan’s parents decided that the family will return to Argentina from their exile in Cuba? What level of risk are they assuming by doing so?
  6. What is the family’s front for distributing propaganda and weapons?
  7. How is the organization of the Montoneros portrayed, for instance with regard to militarization and hierarchy? How are their social relationships with one another depicted?
  8. How is the generation gap between grandparents and parents represented in this film?
  9. In what sense do Cristina and Horacio adopt traditional gender roles and/or do they break with them?
  10. What is Juan’s assigned role within the family? Does he seem to resent this role? In general, how does his reaction to living underground compare to that of Harry in Kamchatka?
  11. What role does first love play in Juan’s life? Why are his parents upset to learn about is infatuation with María?
  12. What role does ‘el tío/Uncle Beto’ play? Compare him to Lucas in Kamchatka. (Note: Uncle Beto is played by Ernesto Alterio, the son of actor Héctor Alterio, from The Official Story and Kamchatka.)
  13. How is the experience of death and bereavement portrayed? Specifically, how does the surreal dream sequence about the funeral function?
  14. Compare the portrayal of TV news casts, and of popular music, in this film and in Kamchatka.
  15. How is the conquest of Latin America portrayed in the school lessons and play?
  16. Compare the incident of running away from home as an act of rebellion to the parallel episode in Kamchatka.
  17. Comment on the use of graphic sequences. What kinds of events are they used to illustrate? What is their emotional effect on the viewer? How does the other, historical, Ernesto, ‘Che’ Guevara, figure into these sections of the film?
  18. What becomes of Juan’s baby sister, Vicky?
  19. What effect is achieved by ending the film with a series of photographs of Sara Ernestina Zermoglio, director Benjamín Avila’s mother? Zermoglio was an anthropology student who became a Montonera guerrilla and the partner of Montonero commander Horacio Mendizábal. Mendizábal died in 1979 in a confrontation with the military, and Sara Zermoglio was subsequently kidnaped and disappeared. Benjamín’s younger brother was kidnaped and illegally adopted, and has subsequently been found and reunited with his birth family.
  20. How does knowing that the director is the child of a disappeared political prisoner affect your reaction to the film in general?
  21. What is the filmmaker’s overall emotional reaction to his own clandestine childhood, as portrayed in this film?
  22. Over all, how does this film compare to Kamchatka, as a portrayal of family bonds and coming of age in a time of state terror?
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