Name: Perón, sinfonía del sentimiento
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 5 h 40 min
Rating: 7.6
Cast: Martín Andrade

Juan Domingo Perón was elected Argentine president in 1946 and 1952. He was overthrown and exiled in 1955 by a military coup. The last years of Peron's government were oppressive and corrupt, and many Argentines (including the leaders of most political parties, the moneyed classes, most intellectuals and the Catholic Church) supported the coup. In the coming years Peron's followers were harshly repressed (firing squads included), many of his achievements were rolled back and the Peronist party was not allowed to participate in elections even with another candidate. The mere mention of the word "Perón" in public was illegal for a time, and could land you in jail.

The incompetence/malevolence/corruption of the governments that succeeded Perón (both "democratic" and military) gradually returned him some of his luster, and his achievements began to be remembered: workers' rights flourished in his regime, and there were initiatives to develop Argentine industry, to recover resources in the hands of foreign concerns (for instance the railway system, owned by the British) and to facilitate direct commerce and collaboration among Latin American countries. By 1969 Argentina slid into increasing anarchy; there were numerous guerrilla actions, some of them by the Montoneros and the Juventud Peronista (the Peronist left) and brutal counteractions by the military and the police. Many Argentines (among them the the politicians that applauded Perón's ouster) began to realize that there could be no solution to Argentina's problems until Perón was allowed to return and participate in elections. That happened in 1973, and Perón won by a large margin at the helm of his party, assuming the presidency on October 1973. 

Alas, that solved nothing. Peron's entourage at the time included characters from unsavory to sinister like José López Rega, founder of the AAA = Argentine Anticommunist Alliance, a death squad­ that soon began targeting not only the left but moderate opposition. Peron envisaged for his third wife Isabel Martínez a role similar to that of his second, Eva Perón, "Evita", but Evita was a tough act to follow. Moreover, Perón was clearly not in control even of his own party, by then including discordant elements from extreme left to extreme right. In a notorious public speech on May 1974 Perón disowned and condemned his party's left. The consequence (intended or not) was to give a green light to the AAA, the police and the intelligence services to hunt down the Montoneros and other leftist organizations. After Perón's death on July 1, 1974, and especially after the military takeover in 1976 the Dirty War began in earnest; it targeted every kind of leftist or progressive, real or suspected, lasted until 1981 and cost thousands of dead and disappeared.

Leonardo Favio's documentary is one-sided to the point of propaganda. Perón's achievements in the period 1946-1955 are no longer controversial and justly celebrated in this film, but failures and errors are entirely omitted or minimized. The picture of the period 1955-1973, with Peron in exile and Peronism underground or in opposition to successive governments is mostly accurate, but there are essential omissions; Perón's contacts with extreme right-wing clandestine organizations such as the lodge Propaganda Due (P2) in Italy are not mentioned. The period between Peron's return and his death is given a superficial treatment, and Perón responsibility for the coming Dirty War is entirely glossed over. The film ends with his death. 

I believe this documentary shows no new newsreel footage. When the voice-over is not supported by images the film uses crude drawings and equally crude animation; it would have been much more effective to use photos as background. I am not sure that watching this film (five hours!) is justified.

Spanish-language cinema across Spain and Latin America is united by its engagement with history, cultural identity, and social transformation. In Spain, films often balance artistic experimentation with popular genres while reflecting on memory, politics, and family. In Latin America, cinema has been deeply tied to questions of colonial legacy, resistance, and community resilience, ranging from intimate dramas to bold political allegories.

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The documentary deals on the life and achievements of Juan Domingo Peron and his government, the key political facts and figures and also about Argentinian History in the 20th century.

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