Know Thine Enemy - Argentina and Terrorism
Thank you to everyone who has commented on my last essay re: homoeroticism in Apartment Zero. I just found the website where I wrote my original essays - http://www.seventh-seal.com/zero - and found a second one I had researched and written back in 2003. I personally prefer the homoeroticism essay, but I thought i'd share this one anyway. Feedback would be greatly appreciated.
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WARNING: This essay contains spoilers to the film, including important plot points and the final climactic scenes.
Many references are made in the film to the horror that Argentina suffered tremendous grief and horror. Apartment Zero was made five years after democracy was restored, and it was apparent that the country was still in a state of fear and distrust. Given that Jack Carney was a death squad mercenary, those who view the film should be made aware of just how threatening his presence in Argentina was - and, indeed, what led him to be there in the first place.
Marxist revolutionaries called Montonero engaged in a violent guerrilla campaign, which spurred military intervention. In a coup on March 24, 1976, a military junta seized power in Argentina and went on a campaign to wipe out left-wing terrorism with terror far worse than the one they were combating. Three juntas were placed in power during this atrocity, the rulers of whom were in presidential standing. The list of junta members can be found at http://www.yendor.com/vanished/junta.html; the three members of the triumvirate were General Jorge Rafael Videla, Emilio Massera and Orlando Agosti, with Videla being a prominent figure in the Dirty War. It was a ruthless campaign against liberals, leftists and political terrorists. The junta imposed martial law and ruled by decree.
One of the most pivotal events in this period occurred in 1982; Argentina invaded and took control of the Falkland Islands, which they had controlled since 1820 but had lost to Britain. Thus began the Falklands War. During this undeclared war that lasted 72 days, Argentina lost 655 men who had been conscripted by the Argentina junta. Argentina's defeat severely discredited the military government. Leopoldo Galtieri resigned from his presidential position and his successor Reynoldo Bignone led the third junta - however, by now the end of the junta rule was accelerating, leading to the restoration of civilian rule.
Between 1976 and 1983 - under military rule and in the name of national security - thousands of people, most of them dissidents and innocent civilians unconnected with terrorism, were seized by force and vanished without a trace. People were kidnapped in the streets and never seen again. The prisons were overflowing with political prisoners. The estimated figure for the amount of people that vanished is 11,000. The violations of human rights caused the US government, under the direction of President James E. "Jimmy" Carter Jr., to cease their provision of military aid to Argentina.
In 1983, after democracy was restored, a national commission was appointed to investigate the fate of those that had vanished. Its report revealed the systematic abductions of men women and children, the existence of about 340 well-organized secret detention centers, and the methodic use of torture and murder. According to current president, Carlos Menem, records of the atrocities were destroyed by the military, following the 1982 Falklands War. Those who vanished have not been heard of to this day. A petition is in motion demanding a list of all those executed between March 24th, 1976 and December 10th, 1983, the dates of the military dictatorship.
Very few of the abductors, torturers and killers have been brought forth in a court of law; those who were caught and sentenced were released long before completing their sentences due to pressure from the military. One of these murderers was former Argentine president Leopoldo Galtieri, one of the most prominent figures in the Argentine junta. Thousands took part in the atrocities but a plethora of them walk amongst the Argentine people to this day, their actions largely untraced and their lips sealed. Those who attempt to find documents relating to the years of junta rule are detained, tortured or even killed. Death and torture are devices for silence. Journalists who write articles that are offensive to the government are severely punished. Because there have been very few discoveries pertaining to the disappearance of countless civilians, the gruesome truth has not been fully realized, thus much of the reality remains a secret. It's little wonder, then, that the Argentine people woke up in the morning wondering if they would see the day through - five years after the collapse of the junta, there are still tremendous threats hanging over their heads. Attacks since the turn of the century have instilled that familiar fear in the Argentine population once again. The Dirty War is over but human rights violations continue to be a problem in this country. Sadly, Argentina and neighbouring counties will always be plagued with terrorist organizations, making the country's efforts to move on almost impossible.
Extensive research shows no evidence of a terrorist organization called CO2 - a smart move on director Martin Donovan's part to fictionalise the group, considering that a real group would have his head on a stick. A Marxist revolutionary group called Shining Path is/were active in Peru and regions in or around Chile and Argentina, but until I receive information from Martin Donovan, I cannot be sure if CO2 was based on Shining Path. If such an organization as CO2 existed, I imagine that they would have a connection to the School of the Americas, who trained some of the Argentine military officers. Graduates from the Ft. Benning training ground, despite denial from the School's representatives, partook in the most corrupt regimes. It does not take a stretch of the imagination to associate Jack and CO2 with the School of the Americas, more frequently called "the School of Assassins" - their training was advanced, their education was detailed to the point of brainwashing and many trainees formed organizations outside the SOTA. Their manuals, which were recently declassified, include such educational topics such as how to kidnap, extort, torture and assassinate.
The psychological condition of a terrorist features an absence of empathy for the suffering of others - they do not feel other people's pain. However, they do not appear ill or mentally unstable. Jack walked amongst the Argentines with the greatest of ease, his charm and allure offering no insight to his psychopathic state.
In an interview with Film And Filming on September 14th, 1989, Colin Firth shared his thoughts on Argentina as it was at the time of filming Apartment Zero: "There was something in the air which was confusing, because Argentina is no longer a place where people 'disappear'. There aren't any death squads in action now, but there were five years ago. It must have been like a surrealist nightmare! This is actually what the film is about, the fact that the monster hasn't gone away."
The monster, at least for Adrian, lives on in Jack, who in the film represents the terrorizing grip that military personnel (local and imported) held in Argentina following the turbulent years after 1983. Adrian wears rose-coloured glasses and appears to pay no attention to the slaughters occurring in the streets of Buenos Aires; Adrian is a poster child for denial, in which too many Argentine civilians constantly lived. Being in such a chaotic environment, you have a choice of either turning a blind eye or facing it head-on - and for people like Adrian, the truth is too hard to handle. Jack is introduced as the slap of reality that, despite Adrian's blindness, terror still exists.
Could Adrian turn out to be a terrorist himself? It is difficult to say. His social attitudes and mental deterioration indicate the potential to commit an act of terrorism, but other factors do not comply with the typical nature of a terrorist - at the conclusion of Apartment Zero, we have only seen Adrian kill one person, and the final frame suggests that he has taken on Jack's identity. He killed to protect himself - however, not without pleasure, as the chilling table scene illustrates. He has become desensitised through exposure. He may continue to kill, but based on his history, as we know it, these acts are isolated and not committed for political or other reasons.
Apartment Zero serves as a warning to the Argentine people not to resort to selective vision. Covering your ears and closing your eyes will not make a problem disappear - nor will it block out a powerful influence. As the later scenes of the film illustrate, bloodlust can be a contagious disease.
Go take a step outside - see what’s shaking in the real world.