The last week I had the great opportunity of seeing one of the most shocking and outstanding movie of the Latin America cinema. I had the luck of seeing "Kamchatka" the Argentinian movie of a family living through the "Dirty War" in the 1970s. Its such a great story because it shows a point of view of the war not ever seen before, it the shows the life of the people hiding and not necessary the actual war. This movie might be very calm and lack of action but it deals with a very harsh theme that is war and it gets its point across very smoothly. The plot of this story is of a family, that like many others during this war, had to leave their houses and hide away and pray to not get caught by the military. In the "Dirty War", important people and other normal civilians would be kidnapped daily, around 30,00 was the estimate of missing people by the end of the war. The story revolves around the life of this family in their hideout and how they try to live a normal life. To keep themselves safe in their new hideout, this family has to change everyone's name, so we now them by the names they invent, the dad is David Vincent, the mom is just called mom, the oldest kid is called Harry and the little brother is known as 'El Enano'.The main characters, or the cast, are composed by Ricardo Darín as Dad or David Vincent, Cecilia Roth as Mom Vincent, Matías Del Pozo as Harry, Milton De La Canal as Simón or El enano, and Héctor Alterio as Grandfather. This are not all the actors that were in the movie but this stood out the most. Ricardo Darín (David Vincent) and Cecilia Roth (Mom Vincent) made an amazing job in the acting, they made an excellent job conveying the emotions of the people who lived through this war. Matías Del Pozo or Harry was also outstanding in his acting despite only being 10 years old in the movie.This movie could have been improved much more in the sense of showing more about the reality of war. Some scenes like when they came back to their runaway house could have been more dramatic in order to get more the attention of the viewer. Other scene where really good and did a great job grasping the attention of the audience such as the dance scene, where we saw how the family kept happy and together throughout those hard times. The scene of the shooting starts is another great example of this scenes that break the tension and show the good side of the story."Kamchatka" shows us a very dark theme, war, specially the "Dirty War" but this is not a documentary about this war, it is a movie. Because its a movie, it is made not only to inform but to leave lessons to the audience. A lesson that is clearly shown through out all the movie and in the scenes of the dance and the shooting stars is that there is always light in the the darkest places. This family is living hell but they always find time for each other and to be happy. Another lesson this film conveys is the cruelty in human nature. Again and again it is shown the innocence of this family but this does not stop their horrible persecution.This movie is directed to any type of audience, it contains from comedy to very serious scenes. It deals with a very complicated theme but it displays it in a very simple way to understand. The lack of action and romance is bad news for young audiences but all the other aspects make this movie a perfect movie for almost anyone. If there had to be a recommendation, mainly this movie would be recommended from young adults and to all type of ages above. This film has a rating of 7.3, a very harsh rating for such a great film but still a very it is a good rating for a Latin American movie.

I've just seen this move, and I think it's wonderful. The performance of Ricardo Darin and Cecilia Roth is superb. The movie show us how life was in Argentina for dissident people, in the seventies, under the military government. I am not an Argentinian, so I don't know much of its history. If you are like me, I recommend you to read the summary of the movie that is in the Extras section of the DVD, to be acquainted of the political situation in this years. If you are in your late thirties, or even if you are older, you'll also enjoy remembering those old beautiful songs. I thought "Son of the bride" was the best movie of Ricardo Darin, but I was wrong. This movie is as good or better.

This movie exudes the finesse and maturity of Latin American cinema of the new millenium. Long gone is the exploitation of magical realism and the cult of the exotic. The noble savage gives way to universal characters with very complex feelings.I'm so glad this old baggage of the victim's complex has been checked at the door. The result is a beautiful movie about a family on the run during the 1970's Argentine military junta crack down. Kamchatka is free of the cliches and over-acting of Latin American movies of yesteryear. National identity is no longer the main story line, but rather a subtle backdrop that brings about one of the best stories about political crisis anywhere, the dismembering of a family.Kamchatka has one of the most arresting final scenes that I have ever seen. This is a grand achievement of Argentine film.

This film is delightful and one which will leave you enchanted. I cannot understand some of the comments that say the reason why the family is on the run is never explained - it is! The father is described as a lawyer whose speciality is working with people who have been accused of political crimes. When his partner is arrested and goes missing- he knows that time is running short for him under the new military regime after the coup and decides to take his family underground to escape the same fate. Outstanding performances all round - Darin and Roth are electric - and it is so nice to see a film that portrays a strong husband/wife bond rather than a dysfunctional one. The child actors are impressive without displaying that smug awareness ("look at me, aren't I clever") that spoils many a performance by an American child. Touching and poignant, a must see that just emphasises the strength now coming through from Argentinian cinema.