Blessed by Fire

2005 Argentine film

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Blessed by Fire

Spanish| Iluminados por el fuego
Directed by| Tristán Bauer
Written by| Tristán Bauer
Edgardo Esteban
Miguel Bonasso
Gustavo Romero Borri
Based on| Iluminados por el fuego
by Edgardo Esteban with collaboration of Gustavo Romero Borri
Produced by| Ana de Skalon
Carlos Ruta
Starring| Gastón Pauls
Pablo Ribba
César Albarracín
Hugo Carrizo
Cinematography| Javier Juliá
Edited by| Alejandro Brodersohn
Music by| León Gieco
Distributed by| Distribution Company

Release date

* 8 September 2005 (2005-09-08)

Running time

| 100 minutes
Countries| Argentina
Spain
Language| Spanish

Blessed by Fire (Spanish: Iluminados por el fuego) is a 2005 Argentine war drama film co-written and directed by Tristán Bauer. The film features Gastón Pauls, Pablo Ribba and Juan Leyrado. The story centers on the Falklands War and it is based on the book of the same title written by Edgardo Esteban, a veteran of the conflict.[1]

## Plot summary

[edit]

The story centers on two young men who are sent to fight the 1982 war in the Falkland Islands and who return home bearing the brutal scars of war. Twenty years after the war's end, journalist Esteban Leguizamón is informed that Alberto Vargas, one of the men he served with, has attempted suicide after suffering from years of depression brought on by his experiences in the war. Esteban visits the comatose Vargas at the hospital, and in a series of extended flashbacks, revisits the scene of Argentina's "unwinnable war."

The film depicts Esteban and fellow soldiers Vargas and Juan, who are living in foxholes on the remote, windswept Falklands, battling hunger, boredom, abuse, and the deprivations of war as they await the arrival of British forces. A series of harrowing battle scenes with British forces ensues, and the Argentines realise the futility and violence of their mission. They are cannon fodder, pawns in a futile political game.

Back in the present, Esteban returns to the Falklands to come to terms with himself and the past. The emotional final scenes were shot on location in the Falklands, for the first time in Argentine film. As Esteban looks over the still off-limits battlefields filled with mines, live ammunition, and rusting military equipment, the futility of war is abundantly clear.

## Cast

[edit]

* Gastón Pauls as Esteban Leguizamón
* Pablo Ribba as Alberto Vargas
* César Albarracín as Juan Chamorro
* Victor Hugo Carrizo as Pizarro
* Virginia Innocenti as Maria Vargas
* Juan Leyrado
* Arturo Bonín

## Release

[edit]

The film was shown on the Australian TV channel SBS on March 17, 2009.[citation needed]

## Awards

[edit]

Silver Condor: Graciela Fraguglia, Alejandro Brodersohn, Tristán Bauer, Edgardo Esteban, Miguel Bonasso, Gustavo Romero Borri, Virginia Innocenti.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Iluminados por el fuego" [Lit by fire]. LaHiguera.net (in Spanish). Retrieved July 20, 2021.
2. ^ "SE ENTREGAN HOY LOS PREMIOS CONDOR DE PLATA" [THE CONDOR DE PLATA AWARDS ARE PRESENTED TODAY]. Pagina 12 (in Spanish). January 26, 2006. Retrieved July 20, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Iluminados por el fuego at IMDb
* Iluminados por el fuego at Rotten Tomatoes
* Iluminados por el fuego at the cinenacional.com (in Spanish)

* v
* t
* e

Goya Award for Best Ibero-American Film

Goya Award for Best Spanish Language Foreign Film

1980s|

* A King and His Movie (1986)
* Life Is Most Important (1987)
* ~~(1988)~~
* The Beauty of the Alhambra (1989)

1990s|

* Fallen from Heaven (1990)
* The Frontier (1991)
* A Place in the World (1992)
* Gatica, el mono (1993)
* Strawberry and Chocolate (1994)
* Midaq Alley (1995)
* Autumn Sun (1996)
* Ashes of Paradise (1997)
* The Lighthouse (1998)
* Life Is to Whistle (1999)

2000s|

* Burnt Money (2000)
* La fuga (2001)
* The Last Train (2002)
* Intimate Stories (2003)
* Whisky (2004)
* Blessed by Fire (2005)
* The Hands (2006)
* XXY (2007)
* The Good Life (2008)

Goya Award for Best Hispano-American Film

2000s|

* The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
* The Life of Fish (2010)

Goya Award for Best Ibero-American Film

2010s|

* Chinese Take-Away (2011)
* Juan of the Dead (2012)
* Blue and Not So Pink (2013)
* Wild Tales (2014)
* The Clan (2015)
* The Distinguished Citizen (2016)
* A Fantastic Woman (2017)
* Roma (2018)
* Heroic Losers (2019)

2020s|

* Memories of My Father (2020)
* The Cordillera of Dreams (2021)
* Argentina, 1985 (2022)
* The Eternal Memory (2023)

Note: Entries scored out are when the award was not handed
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