When Alberto Vargas (Pablo Riva) tried to commit suicide , this brings up his old soldier buddy called Esteban Leguizamón (Gaston Pauls) some old records . As Vargas attempted to commit suicide after suffering from years of depression brought on by his experiences in the war , as Leguizamón mentions that over 290 veterans had committed suicide after the war, and indicates that this is the same as the name number of casualties there during the war . As Esteban returns to Falklands islands where took place Guerra De las Malvinas, also known as the Falklands Conflict, Falklands Crisis and the Guerra del Atlántico Sur , Spanish for "South Atlantic War" .It's a good film, a cool Argentina/Spain co-production recreating the shortages of a group of Argentinian soldiers in Las Malvinas , the offensive by British navy and what happened during those desperate days . Stirring images by means of flashbacks accompanied with roaring battle scenes . The making was a logistical problem as almost that of setting up a campaign and putting a film together under any circumstances was very difficult because working under pretty bad conditions. This thought-provoking film is not a total description of such an important war but it is a context in which the battle offers the concrete development , life and death , a few men who are mistreated by a sergeant , suffering pains , starving and many other things . It's well recreated by the director Tristan Bauer , but adding shoot footage . Good acting by the main actor , Gaston Pauls as an Argentinian man who brings up old memories . He was born in Buenos Aires City , Distrito Federal, Argentina and is a nice actor and producer, known for Nueve Reinas (2000), and Felicidades (2000) and this Iluminados Por el Fuego (2005) or Blessed of fire .The motion picture was rightly based on real events , though the characters are fictitious, those are the following : Guerra de Malvinas was a ten-week war between Argentina and the United Kingdom over two British overseas territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands . There the Argentine casualties during the war totalled 649, of which 321 were killed when the General Belgrano was sunk . It began on Friday 2 April 1982 when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands in an attempt to establish the sovereignty it has long claimed over them. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, returning the islands to British control. 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and 3 Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities. The conflict was a major episode in the protracted historical confrontation over the territories' sovereignty. Argentina has asserted and maintains that the islands have been Argentinian territory since the 19th century and, as such, the Argentine government characterised their action as the reclamation of their own territory. The British government saw it as an invasion of territory that has been British also since the 19th century. Neither state, however, officially declared war and hostilities were almost exclusively limited to the territories under dispute and the area of the South Atlantic where they lie. The conflict has had a strong impact in both countries and has been the subject of various books, articles, films and songs. Patriotic sentiment ran high in Argentina, but the outcome prompted large protests against the ruling military government, hastening its downfall. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party government, bolstered by the successful outcome, was re-elected the following year. The cultural and political weight of the conflict has had less effect in Britain than in Argentina, where it remains a ready topic for discussion. Relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina were restored in 1989 following a meeting in Madrid, Spain, at which the two countries' governments issued a joint statement. No change in either country's position as regards the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was made explicit. In 1994, Argentina's claim to the territories was added to its constitution.

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/

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.