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Cast

Irene Escolar
as Eurydice

Fernando Tielve
as Orfeo/Enrico

Hector Bordoni
as Pedro Augustin

Antonio Banderas
as Carlos Rueda

Emma Thompson
as Cecilia Rueda

Maria Canals-Barrera
as Esme Palomares

Ruben Blades
as Silvio Ayala

Leticia Dolera
as Teresa Rueda

Luis Antonio Ramos
as Policeman No. 2

Anton Lesser

Kuno Becker
as Gustavo Santos

John Wood
as Amos Sternberg

Claire Bloom
as Mrs. Sternberg

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Critic Reviews for Imagining Argentina

Audience Reviews for Imagining Argentina

• Jun 22, 2011

  In "Imagining Argentina," Cecilia Rueda(Emma Thompson), a journalist, is snatched off the street by armed men in Buenos Aires in 1976. Eight weeks later, her husband Carlos(Antonio Banderas), a theater director, is still at a loss as to her disappearance. While he does his best to take care of his teenaged daughter Teresa(Leticia Dolera) at home, at work things are falling apart as Enrico(Fernando Tielve), his leading man, wants to quit because his father has gone missing too. Carlos reassures him that things will be fine, as he also starts to sense the horrible truth behind his wife's disappearance. There are some things to admire about the otherwise unremarkable movie "Imagining Argentina," such as the performances from Emma Thompson and Antonio Banderas who underplays nicely but is still no Ricardo Darin. For the most part, writer-director Christopher Hampton gives the potentially intriguing material a pedestrian and heavy handed treatment. To start, the movie would have been better served if it had taken place after the military government left power when Carlos could have provided answers to long lingering mysteries with history at a safe distance. As it stands, what is he supposed to do except provide confirmation of the worst fears?(It just goes to prove that some things are best left to the imagination.) In fact, he only makes things worse. In the end, the individual stories matter little in the grand scheme of things, as the epitaph confirms that this was not an isolated situation. That may be so but also invoking the Holocaust is taking things a little too far.
  Walter M Super Reviewer
• Jan 23, 2010

  It is, yes, well-intentioned but that doesn't compensate for its silly, heavy-handed execution full of artificiality, shallow dialogue and cartoonish villains - and Banderas' character acts so irrationally that I find it unbelievable that he is not killed before halfway through the story.
  Carlos M Super Reviewer
• Mar 14, 2008

  At times this movie had me pinned. I couldn't turn back to the mad-magazine. But that's easy. Just take a timeless subject matter. Throw in some torture and raping of children, and you have anyones attention... But that psychic business. What the hell?!? At one point, Antonio almost threw a fortune cookie at the general!
  a z Super Reviewer

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