Beyond Oblivion

This Argentinean thriller, produced in 1955 and now restored in 4K, makes a well-deserved comeback at Cannes Classics 70 years later. Hugo del Carril directed and played the lead as a grieving, wealthy aristocratic widower who tries to transform a vulgar vaudeville diva into the pious, loving wife he has lost. Laura Hidalgo plays both of his wives with convincing determination, supported by the complicit, silent servants that period dramas deliver best. Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca and George Cukor’s Gaslight had premiered in the 1940’s, and Hugo del Carril uses some of the masters’ devices to good effect, such as stern black and white cinematography that builds suspense in impeccable chiaroscuro — and yes, manipulated gas lights. A soundtrack brimming with weeping violins helps sweep the audience into the plot and dramatic finale, where the diva’s former pimp and classic archvillain seeks his revenge. The result still transfixes us, 70 years later, in a version restored by Argentina Sono Films.

The film’s screening in Cannes is also a stark reminder that after 70 continuous years of film productions, box office successes and international awards, the Argentinean film industry is in a deep crisis after the current president, authoritarian Javier Milei (who wields a symbolic chainsaw and gifted one to Elon Musk), cut off all state support to the national film industry, claiming that the local film institute INCAA was wasteful and corrupt. Ricardo Darin, star of the Oscar-winning The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de sus ojos) and Argentina 1985, condemned the cuts, warning that “we cannot allow hate to destroy us.” Darin is currently appearing in The Eternaut, a Netflix series based on the graphic novel written in 1957 by Hector Oesterheld, who was disappeared by the military junta that also disappeared his four daughters in the 1970’s. Beyond Oblivion has become an apt title for Argentinean cinema’s current struggle to stay alive and survive oblivion.