Invasion

Hugo Santiago's 1969 Argentine film is set in an imaginary city called Aquilea. Middle-aged volunteers, gathered by an old man's summons, try to defend it against invaders whose identity is never given. Who is coming, why, and whether the defence means anything are never explained. The screenplay is by Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares. It is one of the few texts the two wrote together for the screen, and the indeterminate geography of Borges's fiction is directly visible. The city resembles Buenos Aires but is not Buenos Aires. The film disappeared after the 1976 coup; part of the negative was lost or taken. Years later fragments were found and it was reconstructed. That history added a real counterpart to the film's idea of an undefined threat. Who it's for: those interested in Latin American cinema and in Borges. Who it's not for: viewers wanting explanation and plot logic; the film refuses both deliberately.