Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

David Wong Latin American film has always been very different from the typical Hollywood movie. We don't obtain that excitement we get from a blockbuster movie of Hollywood. Movies in Latin America most of the times portray a problem happening in the country and the struggles of living in such problem. Marcelo Piñeyro tries to show how a family has to escape from the coup d'etat in Argentina with the regime of the leader Jorge Rafael Videla. This film is seen from the eyes of a boy named Harry, who is unaware of what is happening in the country and unaware that what is happening, is affecting his family. "Kamchatka" is an Argentinian movie which explains the struggles that families had to go through in the late 70's - early 80's. Harry (Matías del Pozo) is one of the sons of the family, Los Vicente. Harry as well as his little brother, Simon (Milton De la Canal), aren't aware of what is happening or why they are suddenly changing their lives completely. David Vincente (Ricardo Darín) is a lawyer and a father who is trying to do everything possible to keep the family together along with his wife (Cecilia Roth). It is very rare, almost impossible, to see a Hollywood star in a Latin American film and "Kamchatka" isn't the exception. These actors are all Argentinian which made the adaption easier being from the same country who lived the experience. Ricardo Darín played a good part in being a desperate father trying to get the best for his family but on the other side, Cecilia Roth was the loving mother who was always crying about her children although she was very careless, leaving them alone and smoking inside a car, widows closed and the kids inside. Matías del Pozo had to be the one in charge of everything with only 10 years old, yet he played his role very well. In my personal opinion, this movie was very boring and difficult to grasp if you don't know the background about what is happening in the setting of the story. The movie was very slow and nothing exciting happened throughout the 106 minutes of film. The whole movie was about waiting for something interesting to happen and most of the movie was about the mother crying, Harry talking about Houdini and playing the game "T.E.G" with David. Given the impacting background of the movie, you could expect something happening with the military and Videla's dictatorship, or at least a little explanation during the film about what is happening. All we get is about 30 seconds of the news faded in the background and we can see military movements in the TV, but nothing else. I don't feel like I learned something important from this movie and there is not much to learn. It is a different experience watching Latin American film and we can get the difficulties of having to run away from your own country in the film. This is not the best Latin American Movie and I wouldn't put it near the best movies in Latin American cinema because there are other movies, not only Argentinian that can be way better than "Kamchatka" I hope this movie wasn't made for international viewers because if it were made like that, it would have made a terrible job in accomplishing it's goal. I think "Kamchatka" was made for Argentinian viewers who can relate to the experience. I believe that if I were an Argentinian who lived through these events, the movie would have been great. Being from a Latin American country, I can normally relate to most of the movies made or based in a Latin American problem, but "Kamchatka" left me with a hole left to fill. I feel like the movie missed out plenty of things that could have been added to it. If had to recommend this movie, I would recommend it to all of the Argentinian population and to people aware of the Videla reign. If someone that is not aware of this, and want to see the movie, I would recommend to research a lot of what happened in the 70's in Argentina. I would rate the movie a "PG" in the MPAA rating system because it contains smoking, little foul language and it simply isn't a movie for children. To conclude about "Kamchatka", I think this movie is bad and this is not an epitome of Latin American Cinema, there are many movies that can be better than "Kamchatka", this is a growing area of cinema and has to be aided with more support and viewers.

jotix100 The plight of an Argentine family is examined in this film. At the time of the military dictatorship, they must hide and get new identities because the imminent danger of being never seen again by their loved ones. This family whose names are never revealed, try to continue their lives as best they can, hoping their hideaway is never discovered.In Spain, as well as in Argentina, most of the films deal with a difficult period of their history that movie makers love to bring to the screen. Thus, the Spanish Civil War, has been explored by the Spaniards, and in Argentina, we have been given films that also show the horrors some people lived during the 1970s when chaos reigned in the country.Kamchatka suffers from being obscure. The story is easy to follow, but audiences not familiar with that period of time, will be at a loss, as many comments submitted to this forum clearly indicate. Marcelo Pineyro, is a director/writer with experience in this subject, having been instrumental in the more superior "La historia oficial". Working with Marcelo Figueras, they have produced a film that, while engrossing, leaves a lot of things unexplained.The best thing in the film is Matias Del Pozo, who probably was not a professional actor, but who steals the film from the more experienced actors like Cecilia Roth and Ricardo Darin, two giants in the Argentine cinema. As the boy who loves to read about Harry Houdini's exploits, he is marvelous to watch, and a natural at that. Ms. Roth has good moments, as well as Mr. Darin, but their efforts are dwarfed by what they have been given to play.We have enjoyed Mr. Pineyro's work and will be looking forward to his next films.

alupaca I've just seen this move, and I think it's wonderful. The performance of Ricardo Darin and Cecilia Roth is superb. The movie show us how life was in Argentina for dissident people, in the seventies, under the military government. I am not an Argentinian, so I don't know much of its history. If you are like me, I recommend you to read the summary of the movie that is in the Extras section of the DVD, to be acquainted of the political situation in this years. If you are in your late thirties, or even if you are older, you'll also enjoy remembering those old beautiful songs. I thought "Son of the bride" was the best movie of Ricardo Darin, but I was wrong. This movie is as good or better.

Luthor80 An Argentine couple move into hiding with their two sons. Hiding from whom? Why? The movie will not tell us the answer to those questions because that is not what this movie is about. I have to say, though, that I could not stop wondering that through the whole movie.This movie is the story of how this family fights to overcome obstacles (whatever they might be). The effort parents have to make to provide a happy family live for their kids even when their own personal life is plagued with difficulties. Explained with the simplicity of a nine years old boy's perspective the movie is just beautiful and well done. Winner of a "Ciguapa de Oro" at the Santo Domingo 5th International Film Festival I highly recommend it to everybody. 8.5 out 10