The End of the Falkland Islands, Malvinas War       

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In Argentina, the number of suicides among Malvinas war veterans is higher than the number of casualties from the war itself

En la Argentina, el número de suicidios entre los veteranos de guerra de Malvinas es mayor que el número de víctimas de la guerra en sí

War is bad, and that about sums up the message of Blessed by Fire (a.k.a. Illuminated by Fire), a well-meaning but thinly written drama that boasts some dynamic scenes of battlefront futility. To be fair, director Tristan Bauer's emotionally potent drama did win the Best Narrative Feature award at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, and it has the distinction of being the first Argentinean film to openly address the physical and psychological devastation that resulted from the brief 1982 war against British forces in the British-colonized Falkland Islands (or Malvinas, as they're known in Argentina). The legacy of that woefully imbalanced war is tragic beyond comprehension: In Argentina, the number of suicides among Malvinas war veterans is higher than the number of casualties from the war itself, and that sad statistic crucially informs Bauer's story (based on a novel by Engardo Esteban and Gustavo Romero Borri) about a present-day journalist named Esteban (Gaston Pauls) who served in the Malvinas war with Vargas (Pablo Ribba), who's now comatose and hospitalized after attempting suicide with a drug-overdose cocktail. The film flashes back-and-forth from the present to their experiences leading up to and including the decisive battle on Mount Longdon (re-created in a harrowing 20-minute sequence), and while Blessed by Fire is certainly no Saving Private Ryan, its chaotic battle scenes are impressively intense and painstakingly realistic, and Bauer is equally effective in showing the miserably cold battlefield conditions prior to the eruption of violence. As Esteban's memory takes him back to the horrors of battle, his friend's present-day suicide attempt resonates throughout the film, which is surely more powerful for Argentinean viewers than for anyone else. We learn very little about the central character, however, and Paul's performance is too passively blank to draw us deeply into his emotional turmoil. Still, this is one of the few films to deal with what has essentially become a forgotten war, and Bauer's noble reminder offers reassuring proof that Argentina's sacrifices will not be forgotten. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
Acclaimed director Tristán Bauer presents the harrowing story of a band of Argentinean soldiers sent to fight an un-winnable war and left to bear the brutal scars of the past. After learning of a friend’s attempted suicide, a journalist goes back to relive his experiences in the Falklands.

2 Documentaries Global Technologies and Tactics 1 - Falklands War 2 - Lebanon Falklands War: Seamlessly documented on land and sea by frontline British News footage, the Argentinean junta invaded the UK-controlled islands. Thousands of Argentine troops descended on the island, and easily overtook the small detachment of British troops that were stationed there. The UN Security council call for the withdrawal of the Argentinean troops and fostered futile negotiations, as British troops advanced by sea en masse. British planes viciously attacked Port Stanley from the air, shooting down Argentinean aircraft. A British submarine sank an Argentine cruiser, killing close to 400 crewmen. More blood was shed as the advancing British troops reached their destination of Port Stanley to dismantle the Argentinean forces. Argentina surrendered the land, after nearly 1,000 casualties and a bloody battle over the remote island. Lebanon: British News cameras impressively documented the frontline clash in 1975, when the Palestinian Liberation Organization began infiltrating Israeli borders with attacks that brought Israeli reprisals. Israeli strikes and raids were unable to control the growth of the PLO army. In June 1982, a terrorist group attempted to assassinate an Israeli ambassador. Israeli Defense Forces attacked Lebanon again, moving in to the country in an effort to drive out the terrorists. The PLO responded with a massive artillery and mortar attack on the Israeli population of the Galilee. The operation's initial success led officials to broaden the objective to expel the PLO from Lebanon and induce leaders to sign a peace treaty. Most of the terrorist groups in Lebanon have not yet been disarmed, contributing to ongoing antagonism over border control.

The 1982 Falklands War witnessed the largest deployment of British Army Special Forces since WWII--the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Squadron, and the Royal Marines Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre conducted several spectacular raids during the war. One of the most successful, the attack by the D Squadron SAS against an Argentinean airfield on Pebble Island, proved the SAS motto--Who Dares Wins. But the war cost heavily on both sides--255 British and over 1,000 Argentineans died.