Kóblic (2016)

Argentina, 1977. Kóblic is a Navy captain who worked as a plane pilot in the notorious "death flights", which dumped people suspect of political crimes into the sea. His personal opposition to those activities leads him to quit his position and hide in a small town, where he works as a crop duster for a local friend. The local police chief, who is a corrupt and violent man, soon becomes suspicious of him. To complicate things, he gets involved with a woman who is living with another violent man.

Although it is very well directed and well acted, there aren't many thrills in this somewhat implausible drama with a historical backdrop. Some people are being misled into taking it for a real story, which just comes to prove how prone to wishful thinking people are, even when there is no statement by the movie itself claiming its veracity. There isn't much of a chance that a real military would do what the protagonist here does, and the film itself is a sort of explanation for that. It would perhaps be different if he left the country. By staying in Argentina, he just demonstrates that small places are just political miniatures of big places, i.e., the whole country. Besides, most people who work for a dictatorship are ideologically in tune with all its aspects. Military men most of all, since their very training is a strong mental conditioner. I liked the way the movie turns into a revenge story in the final section, although the ending is not exactly a happy one.

Rating: 60