User Reviews

This movie has not aged well from an artistic perspective, but will most likely remain immortal in terms of the message passed. The cinematography is extremely bad, acting (with a few exceptions) is comic and laughable, sound design is nonexistent. Still, there are is so much value at what the movie is sharing with the world about events that happened 100 years back that make it pertinent to this very day. Its subtle critique of both sides (left and right) is painstakingly accurate. It is a good film that everyone should give a chance. A la huelga, compañero!

Director Héctor Olivera has proven to be one of the few prestigious ones that Argentine cinema had, since he knows how to tell stories that capture attention and many of his films are closely related to social problems that have been plaguing the country for years. La Patagonia Rebelde narrates a part of the first workers' strike that marked a before and after in Argentine history. It was something that emerged as one of the aftermath of World War I, at a time when Argentina used to be a world power. Although it has a couple of errors and unbelievable deaths, it is a respectable film. On the one hand, it is felt to be influenced by Western cinema and on the other, it manages to portray a couple of essential aspects of the massacre of the workers. What it narrates is something that happened in a time where anarchism and socialism had a great influence, although anarchism was the most priority. The big difference between these is that anarchism sought a solution through extremism and socialism sought a more rational solution. Due to the great influence of anarchism, this is where the phrase "violence generates more violence" comes in. The workers were fighting for a just cause, but Zavala's ascent did not hesitate to resort to military force. The film states at one point that what he did was for the well-being of the country, even knowing that he could be marked in history as an oppressor. Logically, he was a soldier who only carried out his orders and in the official history it is clear that the ranchers thought this decision was better for the same reason that they began to overexploit the workers. For the ranchers it was only for the well-being of the economy, since for a capitalist system production is what matters and the worker is nothing more than another cog in the machinery. A gear that can be easily replaced. What this film reflects is something that has generated changes in certain laws, but it also reflects the reality of the capitalist system that still exists and that has led Argentina to its decline. Although the workers who died are seen as heroes for some and Zavala as a criminal, the truth is that in this case there are no heroes or villains as such and it is only something subjective. It must be taken into account that anarchist ideas have generated tragic moments after the events in Patagonia, since many bombings have been recorded that have involved innocent victims. That would be one of the negative influences that anarchism has left that led to its decline in the following years. The phrase "violence generates more violence" is repeated because the massacre of the workers has caused disastrous events such as the bombings and the death of the colonel. In these aspects, there is more of a level of neutrality in the actual events than a total definition of whether what happened was good or bad. For the workers it was bad because of the lives that were lost, but for the system of that time it was good for economic reasons. Although today there are still strikes demanding good working conditions, the reality is that capitalism is not very interested in that, unless it seems convenient for its own well-being, otherwise it remains silent. In the end, La Patagonia Rebelde is a film that serves to learn about a part of this historical event and is one of the few Argentine films that deserves a chance. My final rating for this movie is an 8/10.

'La patagonia rebelde' recreates the story of some workers of the patagonia farms trying to get better conditions of work from his patrons, inflated by a couple of socialist men that arrived to this town at the bordering of the world. While the story could be typical, the development isn't. It is based on true facts, and the final is one of the most chilling moments I've remember to see in a movie. A very good movie, great script and great acting.

9/10

Rebellion in Patagonia is a name given to the turmoil during 1920 and 1921 in the province of Santa Cruz in Patagonia, a region at the southern tip of South America.

The export price of wool and other commodities fell drastically after the First World War, which led to a reduction in the already meager wages to workers and peasants. In Río Gallegos, Antonio Soto, a Spanish anarchist, organised workers as a part of the Argentine Regional Workers' Federation (FORA). After the association of landowners rejected the workers' demands (which among other things were for Saturdays off, higher wages, better food, etc.) FORA responded by calling for a general strike in the whole province of Santa Cruz. The tension between workers and landowners escalated to hostage-taking and sporadic armed clashes between workers and police. As a result of this, the Governor was dismissed and troops from Buenos Aires were deployed. Eventually, a compromise was reached - the workers surrendered their weapons and the landowners accepted their demands. The situation didn't calm down after this, on the contrary, conflict deepened through police repression, the landowners' retaliation, political manipulation and conflicts within the workers' ranks between the anarchists and reformists. Repression intensified with arrests, torture and deportation of workers' delegates and prominent syndicalists, and eventually escalated into a new general strike accompanied by robberies, hostage taking and armed conflict. Again, the army is sent, this time not to resolve the conflict peacefully but to drown the workers' revolt in blood. Colonel Benigno Héctor Varela introduced the execution by firing squad as punishment for the strikers. FORA members were killed on the spot. By the end of the intervention the army killed 1500 workers. This movie is about their struggle. Based on actual events.