Almost There: Norma Aleandro in "The Official Story"
Monday, November 16, 2020 at 9:15PM 
One of the nominees from this Thursday's Supporting Actress Smackdown likely got her nomination due to thee Oscar buzz she had earned from a previous performance. While it was Gaby: A True Story that made Norma Aleandro an Academy Award nominee in 1987, it was her performance in 1985's The Official Story that put her name on Hollywood's lips. That Best Foreign Language Film winnere remains the crown jewel in the Argentinian actress' hallowed career...
Released only two years after the election of Raúl Alfonsín put an end to the dictatorial regime of the military junta in Argentina, The Official Story finds a country reckoning with the atrocities of its recent history. The film, written by Aida Bortnik and Luis Puenzo, explores these matters through the story of a privileged family living the final months of the dictatorship in a state of emotional turmoil. As it happens, even those lucky enough to exist in blissful ignorance must someday reckon with the fact that their comfort is built on the ruined lives of others.
It all starts in school, a breeding ground of ideas where Alicia, a history teacher, warns the students of her discipline and rectitude. Despite her field of study, she's a rather sheltered person whose lack of awareness is both stark and alarming. In her own words, Alicia teaches the political past in order to help understand the present. In contradictory contrast she seems willfully unconscious of many truths of the world she inhabits.
In the realm of bourgeois society, good manners prevail over ethics, over knowledge of harsh realities, and ugly revelations. Politics must be left out of the social bubble for they spoil fine dining and cocktail parties. It's not so much that these people are deliberately evil, but that their privileges depend on the status quo. So much so, that they end up looking away from whatever might make them uncomfortable. Alicia is never presented as someone worthy of our hatred and Norma Aleandro plays her with heartfelt empathy.
However, the actress also invites our critical eye towards the teacher. The way she treats her maid stinks of noblesse oblige, barbed politeness. Furthermore, her stern nature towards the students doesn't always read as benign severity. Sometimes, the pedagogue's attitude's tainted by the despair of someone who so wants to be apolitical, they'll accidentally throw others under the bus. Only Alicia's love for her adopted daughter is observed with no silent caveats from the camera, the screenplay, or the performer.
That makes what's to follow so much more heartbreaking.
One night, a group of old mates from Alicia's schooldays get together for a lively dinner and, among them, is Ana. She's been exiled in Europe for the past few years after some unknown perils drove her away from Argentina. Aleandro's friendly chemistry with Chunchuna Villafañe as Ana is beautiful to behold. It's as if she rejuvenates before our eyes, the talkative schoolgirl of yore showing its face, overtaking the space occupied by the middle-aged teacher. As the two women laugh and trade stories, we're lulled into restorative warmth --a perfect time for a bucket of cold water to crash over our heads.
Hearing of her friend's horrifying abuse at the hands of the military authorities, Alicia's face is a masterpiece of mutable expression. At first, drunk with booze and euphoria, she laughs until the reality of the words starts to penetrate her inebriated mind. Then comes shock, mortification at her previous glee, bug-eyed panic before settling into a reactive husk, paralyzed by horror. Only when Ana cries does Aleandro's Alicia do something, hugging the other woman, trying to console someone whose suffering feels completely alien to her.
And then, Ana talks about babies stolen from their mothers and sold to rich people. Alicia freezes. The big question the script posits about the protagonist is how much her ignorance was deliberate. Did she know how her husband got their daughter and choose to look away? In the end, what's worse, honest guilelessness or purposeful aloofness? When Aleandro's pity morphs into a panicked fury, in that flash, that horrible instant, the actress seems to answer the first question.
From there, other interrogations unravel from the text and Aleandro's delicate construction. Alicia loves her daughter, there's no doubt about that and she seems like a good mother from what we see. Still, is that enough reason to not ask questions, to ignore the potential vileness of the truth, and deny another woman the right to be a mother? If her happiness is built on the pain of others, is it moral to enjoy it? Alicia's understandably terrified of acknowledging the bloody price others paid for her joy.
When a student says history has been written by murderers, Aleandro plays the moment like a final girl in front of a horror picture monstrosity. It's all in her scared gaze and the nervous movement of her idle hands. Another time, when dropping her husband at the airport, Alicia fiddles with her hair in a gesture loaded with conflicting meaning. Maybe she's cleaning away her husband's caress or treasuring the ghost of his touch. Is she angered at him, frightened, or looking for his comfort? Aleandro holds all those possibilities in her performance and makes them coexist in complicated communion.
Aleandro also illuminates Alicia's insecurities about her infertility, about not being a "real" mother. The scene when she handles her little girl's newborn clothes is a tour de force by the master tragedienne. With no words, she sings an aria of motherly angst, the teacher wondering with every gentle brush if those garments were put on the baby by a young mother who then had her beloved daughter taken away, stolen. When Alicia tremulously holds an old safety pin, one can almost feel the adoptive mother communicating with the specter of the biological one.
This is a mightily internal performance, one whose greatness lies in the details, in the small gestures. One could write entire books about Aleandro's precise work. Look how she plays a subway monologue like a confession as if the teacher is exorcising her worst fears, filling the silence that's otherwise suffocating her. Regard her last big sequence with her husband played by Héctor Alterio. Both actors give themselves to the bruising emotions of the couple's torment. Her horror crashes against his contempt and it's explosive, especially as violence erupts.
The Official Story was universally acclaimed and it went on to win the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, scoring another nomination for Best Original Screenplay. As you can see, the picture was clearly on the Academy's radar and Aleandro did win many accolades. At Cannes, she tied with Cher in Mask for Best Actress and went on to conquer similar honors from other festivals, the New York Film Critics Circle as well as a nomination from the National Society of Film Critics.
In many ways, she got more precursors and golden accolades than some of the Academy's chosen nominees for Best Actress of 1985. Jessica Lange, nominated for Sweet Dreams, certainly didn't have such a mountain of honors and, apart from a Globe nod, neither did Anne Bancroft in Agnes of God. The other nominees, Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple, Geraldine Page in Trip to Bountiful, Meryl Streep in Out of Africa, were locks. It's not inconceivable to assume Aleandro came close to the nod and she'd have been a stellar Oscar nominee.
You can find The Official Story streaming on HBO Max, the Criterion Channel, and Kanopy.
Reader Comments (25)
Love love love this performance and she most certainly would have been on my best actress ballot. And I'm not even that crazy about the movie personally. It's a damn shame she was nominated for the infinitely less interesting performance/role/movie.
She HANDILY trumps Streep and Bancroft (who is beyond dreadful in Agnes of God) in 1985. Strong line-up otherwise though.
Curiously, I saw this movie some months ago. If some of the production choices are dated, the performance is gripping and the screenplay remains up to date. Great movie, and great prose from Claudio.
Director John Boorman, who was presenting the Best Actress Award at Cannes closing ceremony, told Cher: "Ma chère Cher, sorry you have to share". Quite insulting of him. Aleandro was redeemed when she won the NYFCC Best Actress Award.
Father of the Bride is another Argentine film was nominated for Best Foreign-Language Film in 2001. It starred Argentina's favourite actor, Ricardo Darín, Norma Aleandro and The Official Story's costar Héctor Alterio. The film was released in the US only in March of 2002. As it had been a nominee the year before, it was not eligible for awards in any category in 2002. I am sure Aleandro would have gotten another nomination as Supporting Actress.
Peter -- I agree she outperforms Bancroft and Streep. Lange too, for that matter. I even prefer her to Page, though I know that's probably considered sacrilegious by some people.
ZxM -- Thank you for the compliment. I like the film quite a lot, but its soundtrack is dreadful. The second time Ana and Alicia talk, the lilting piano is so loud it almost drowns out the actresses with its clichéd melancholy.
Marcos -- That was rather shitty of Boorman, I agree. Aleandro's great in SON OF THE BRIDE and should have been a contender, regardless of the eligibility year. I and Juan Carlos Ojano discuss that film and its wonderful cast in his podcast, THE ONE-INCH BARRIER, btw.
Aleandro is one of the best stage performers I have ever seen.
1985 is such a great year for Lead Actresses Turner,Cher,Fonda & Spacek didn't find any love either
My Ballot
Cher at least she gave us a classic look
Goldberg my winner with ease
Lange creates a 3 dimensional woman and gr8 Ed Harris chemistry
Aleandro internal but powerful
Streep for Plenty underrated
I think Bancrofts fine in AOG.
Cláudio, who would be the Portuguese equivalent to Aleandro or Fernanda Montenegro?
Peggy Sue -- I would love to see her on stage, I'm sure Aleandro's masterful. Regarding your question, I think Eunice Muñoz may be the best equivalent. However, most of her great works are in the theatre. I remember when she came to my school, there was reverence in the air, and the people at the National Theatre talk about her as if she's a living legend. If you're looking for a younger actress that is overwhelmingly respected as one of the great Portuguese thespians, Rita Blanco is a good example. On stage and screen, she's amazing and widely acclaimed. I also love Isabel Ruth and Maria João Luís, while Maria do Céu Guerra is equally respected and also has her fans.
markgordonuk -- my ballot would be Aleandro, Cher, Farrow, Goldberg, and someone else. I'm torn between Page, Redgrave in WETHERBY, and Richardson in DANCE WITH A STRANGER for that fifth spot.
This is one of the best performances I've ever seen. It's even more haunting if you've ever been to Buenos Aires (my favorite city in the whole universe) and see las madres de Plaza de Mayo in the streets. You get the reason of the terrible sense of guilty Aleandro conjures in the end of the movie.
I'd forgotten Richardson was she eligible,Regraves ok but not her best work,it's a perculiar film though,I always feel Jeff Daniels steals TPROC though Mia is wonderfully warm in it,no theatrics from her just someone to to spend a great 90 mins with.
Page should have won in 78,I find her Carrie in TTTB too fussy.
cal roth - Right? And it was made in 1985!
Both Aleandro and Villafañe richly deserved nominations that year.
mark: I mean, the acronym should be tTtB. Yes, I acronym Lord of the Rings as LotR, not LOTR. And yes, that's also fussy.
THAT film. I mean THAT film. And THAT performance.
It should be compulsory view for everyone. A perfect double feature with Costa-Gavras "Missing". Specially for American audiences... both films describe what was learnt by the military and police forces of Latin American countries at the US "School of the Americas".
Great movie and great performance. It is available on Netflix here in Brazil.
I love that they had Aleandro herself to present the oscar!
Great performance and absolutely nomination-worthy
My own ballot would be:
Aleandro
Goldberg (winner)
Page
Cher
Streep (for plenty)
Haven’t seen lange’s performance yet!
1. Coral Browne - Dreamchild
2. Vanessa Redgrave - Wetherby
3. Jessica Lange - Sweet Dreams
4. Glenn Close - Jagged Edge
5. Norma Aleandro - The Official Story
1985 was ridiculously competitive in Best Actress. I love and miss Anne Bancroft but someone else should have taken her spot.
I remember People Magazine having an article in early winter proposing as many as 20 contenders for best actress that year. It was an outrageously exceptional crop, in an era where weak or semi-weak best actress slates were more the norm.
I don't think much of The Official Story as a film -- it's like a Jane Fonda movie, where the conservative has to be told the truth, at which point she turns into a liberal. Before anyone jumps: my own politics are quite liberal, but I still find this an insulting trope -- especially given that Aleandro's character was an educated woman. It's insulting that all she needs is a liberal to show her the proper path.
But Aleandro is good in the role, and would have been a perfectly good nominee. (Replacing Bancroft, by me -- I think Lange is actually better in Sweet Dreams than in other nominated performances.)
My recollection of Gaby: A True Story is almost nil. I think it was widely felt that, in a year with few solid contenders, Aleandro was being given a make-up for having missed two years prior.
Claudio-personally I adore lange in sweet dreams so if I had to pick between her and page to leave off, I’m sad to say it would have been Page (who I think is lovely). Of the roster I would probably only have kept Goldberg and Lange, and then added Cher (Mask), Aleandro, and Mia Farrow. Page would be my sixth slot.
1985 was such an embarrassment of riches for actresses in leading roles and Aleandro was sadly crowded out. And I am still amazed that it took until the 21st century for Spanish language performances to be nominated! I highly recommend La historia oficial and El secreto de sus ojos for a double feature.
@Tom Q
"I don't think much of The Official Story as a film -- it's like a Jane Fonda movie, where the conservative has to be told the truth, at which point she turns into a liberal. Before anyone jumps: my own politics are quite liberal, but I still find this an insulting trope -- especially given that Aleandro's character was an educated woman. It's insulting that all she needs is a liberal to show her the proper path."
Wow. We're talking about genocide. An actual genocide of thousands and also the dealing of stolen children, that happened for real, and the film was a national catharsis... this is not about "liberals" and "conservatives", but between criminals and decent human beings.
It was totally about "liberals" and "conservatives", don't you come here rewriting history with your Spanish "La Transición" bullshit.
Andrew Carden -- I'd nominate both actresses too.
ken s -- Thanks for sharing your ballot. I'll be sure to check out Dreamchild.
NathanielB -- I hadn't even noticed that it took to the 21st century for Spanish language performances to be nominated. That's preposterous.
Jesus Alonso -- I co-sign everything you said.