The Hour Of The Furnaces

(Directed by Octavio Getino & Fernando E. Solanas (1968, 260 min)

When Directors Octavio Getino & Fernando E. Solanas set out to create a revisionist history of Argentina seen through of the eyes of the left, it was a journey that almost destroyed them. In the three painstaking years it took them to sift through archive footage, film interviews with resistance fighters, and analyze the history books, a dictatorship came to power, forcing the film underground.

What they ended up with is the most comprehensive look at Argentina’s history, from imperialism to revolution, ever recorded. As torch bearers in the Third Cinema, this landmark film has many themes that would be associated with the Spanish film movement. Scathing critiques of neocolonialism. The evils of capitalism. And how Hollywood married both for maximum profits.

It’s daring use of montage revolutionized the technique in documentary filmmaking. This “Guerilla Film” uses fast-cutting to make its subjects do a cinematic “dance”, casting a light on the absurdity of the class system. Due to the controversial nature of the film, finding it proved difficult after its release.

Write Brain TV is happy to present all three parts of the controversial documentary The Hour Of The Furnaces. A quintessential film in Spanish underground cinema.