Jonathan Perel’s austere documentary is an exercise in cinematic minimalism. A series of single shot takes, clearly filmed from within a car, of Argentine factories or workplaces. Each shot is accompanied by a voiceover giving details of the way in which the owners of the particular factory, (some of which are now abandoned or in disuse, others still operating), collaborated with the Argentine military dictatorship. The unseen voice lists the crimes associated with the factory, from laying off workers for their militancy to participating in the disappearance of workers, as well as the pay-off that the businesses received for having collaborated.
As mentioned it is an austere watch, cinema pared down to the bone, which almost seems to invite a debate as to whether this is the best way to address this subject matter or not. The great debate surrounding political or activist filmmaking is the question of how much it chooses to preach to the converted and how much it seeks to reach out to a wider audience. Perel’s film, which premiered at Berlin, is very much a niche watching experience. It is a document(ary), in the purest sense of that idea. It documents, with no attempt made to entertain or seduce. As such it’s doubtful it will convince anyone who does not have a vested interest in watching the film about the iniquities of dictatorships. But it will also linger in my mind far longer than many a soft-soap drama about the subject matter might have done.
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