Symphony for Ana tells the struggle of students at Argentinian University who were forced to 'disappear' during the dictatorship. The movie chronicles the stories of friendship, love life, differences in the ideologies among the students, and about the history of Peron era.
With grainy footage from the days of military dictatorship to Juan Peron coming back to power, Ernesto Ardito, and Virna Molina, the directors of Symphony for Ana have portrayed Argentina before the coup in 1976 and after.
Many of the sequences of suppression of students inside the university, anti-fascist faculty members being marked out and students coming up with various political ideologies are not something new to the audience.
With many memories of violence and silence, both the directors have echoed the emotion in the film. The film starts with asserting the relationship with Ana and Isa, who are best friends in the university. Both grew up thinking there are two important things in life- love and changing the world and to stand for what is right.
Ana finally falls in love with Lito, a person with a different political ideology though they fight for the same cause. Ana, a true Peronist, joins the students in the university to change the world along with her best friend Isa. Peron is overthrown in a coup followed by students supporting their faculty members.
Peronists gather to protect their dean from being dismissed and in the course, they lose their close partner. With pressure mounting on them, the students decide to take over the university but things soon fall apart.
When her friends come to know about her relationship with Lito, they advise her to stay away from him. A confused Ana decides to break up with him fearing to lose her virginity. At the same time, she also falls in love with Camilo.
The right-wing fascist forces attack their university and students who disagree to support them. Many 'disappear' while some are forced to leave the country. Camilo too disappears and Lito is forced to leave Argentina. When her best friend Isa too leaves her, she is left with no one back home.
The movie is a recording made by Ana for Isa chronicling the days in university and their rebellious adventures. The political situation of Argentina during the days of military dictatorship, people supporting Peronist era and its consequences are exceptionally good.
Old recordings of the Peronist outbreak along with Ardito and Molina’s direction have made the film worth a watch.
