Blessed by Fire (2005)

Best movie ever!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I fall between those critics who see this as a near masterpiece, and those who dismiss it as overly familiar and done better before.An intense, fascinating look at the Falklands war, from the Argentinean soldier's POV, it begins with the attempted suicide of an ex-solider, which throws his war-time buddy into remembrances of the hell these men endured.While the war may have seemed a silly little flare up about a bunch of rocks to most of the world, to the Argentinean draftees who lost their lives their limbs and their sanity in a futile, under equipped attempt to hold off a wildly more powerful British force was as real to them as Vietnam or Iraq or the coast of Normandy was to the men who suffered and died there. \Indeed, through this film's eyes it was worse, because it was an absolutely pointless and quickly forgotten war, drummed up by the generals back home as a nationalistic exercise to take the country's mind off its faltering economy, And then, in the ultimate ignominy, the men are sworn to silence about their defeat (and, presumably, abusive treatment by their own officers). Any war where more of the soldiers die of suicide in the years after than on the battlefield itself is indeed worth examining. The film succeeds in capturing the horror, confusion, and fear, although it doesn't quite get under the skins of the characters enough to make us understand on a visceral level. I was never bored, but nowhere near as deeply moved as I wish I had been. Still, I would have rated this higher except for a stumble in the very last seconds of the film, where suddenly a burst of sentimentality and latent nationalism in the form respectively of a pop song, and a last screen graphic made me question if I had been giving the film too much credit for having an enlightened point of view.

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.

Not many war films are made about the terrors of the Falkland, or Malvinas, war. Neither are war films as poignant and thought-provoking as Blessed by Fire.War films are so regularly hybrid with other genres, whether its romance, politics, bravery, historical drama, art, or even comedy. This can make them entertaining, such as Apocalypse Now, or silly, like Pearl Harbour. Done to make more sales, make a political statement, to boast a big budget or glamorise real warfare, it's always a gamble if the war film is worth watching.I was pleased to have come across Blessed by Fire. I hadn't heard much about it but I was interested in watching a movie about the Falklands War. It's told from the Argentine perspective and based on the memoirs of the soldier, Esteban Leguizamón, played by Gastón Pauls. Twenty years after the war, Leguizamón is contacted to visit his old comrade Alberto Vargas (Pablo Ribba) who is in a coma after attempted suicide. Through flashbacks and newsreels, Leguizamón remembers the ill-treatment by superiors, how his friends would talk of their futures, families and livelihoods, their fear of the invading British armies, and the dank conditions they were living in. It also touches on the neglect soldiers face after the war from their government – bad pensions and no career options. What it does magnificently is touch on the mental horrors of war - the anger and psychological scars that war causes – and without a glamorisation in sight. Another political issue it touches on at the end is the live mines and rusting ammunition left over beautiful landscapes, and how nothing has been done to get rid of them. The political slant against Maggie Thatcher and her reasons for war are thrown in there – whether it's for good measure, I'm unsure. But the result of the war has tarnished political relations between Britain and Argentina for many years, and it is a sensitive issue, particularly for Argentineans.It was a film made on a budget, so some of the acting is slightly amateur – but believable. The special affects are okay, but in moments of excitement, the lighting doesn't always make it clear what is going on. However, the sets are gloomy enough to be realistic and the photography of the Falklands is fantastic.It's a symbol of what war is really about. Not the most exciting. But realism and heroism, without glamour. I give this film 9!

Iluminados Por El Fuego is a cruel and real story about a tragic war between Argentina and Great Britain, struggling for the Islas Malvinas in the South Atlantic. That was decided by Argentinean Military Government in 1982 in order to gain popularity among citizens trying to distract attention in a moment where Argentina was close to a civil war. Any strategic or tactic analysis of that tragic war will explain all the mistakes that put Argentina in disadvantage to win the war, but the movie itself shows the cruel reality that lived the 17 and 18 year old recruit soldiers, today still suffering war veterans. Iluminados Por El Fuego shows perfectly how the boys (because the were just boys) lived a war they didn't ask for, suffered a war they were not ready to face or fight, with almost no food, no weapons and no training. The movie shows how the boys of war became today's suffering veterans struggling to survive with no help, trying to live alone in a country that seems to be ignorant to the terrible reality they lived. Iluminados Por El Fuego is, 23 years after the war, the very first real important Movie about Malvinas War, a clear example of how human life can be so cheap.