I understand state action and the laws that states introduce as meaning-making instruments. They structure and derive structure from their societies’ understandings of the world (Cover, “Foreword: Nomos and Narrative”). Therefore, when I encounter state-sponsored torture, I consider that it must be conducted for a reason—no matter how unjustified or insufficient. In part, Marco Bechis’ 1999 film Garage Olimpo reinforces my perception of state-sanctioned torture as meaning-making. However, the film ultimately challenges that understanding, emphasizing state-sponsored torture as meaning-destroying and therefore contrary to my expectations for state function.
Garage Olimpo situates torture within a rational framework by providing horrifying but logical context for protagonist Maria’s torture and suggesting that her torture necessitates a meaningful response from Argentinian society. Maria is “disappeared” because she teaches people to read, which Argentina’s governing military junta during the 1976-1983 proceso de reorganización nacional viewed as dangerous (Garage Olimpo 0:05:27, 0:15:00; Boyer, “Defining Torture;” Boyer, “Torture and Modernity”). Since Maria’s arrest and subsequent torture happen for a clear political reason, I can understand them as consistent with a meaning-making rationale. Another meaning-making moment emerges at the end of Garage Olimpo, where the closing sequence reads, “Today, the persons responsible for [the crimes of Argentina’s military dictatorship] walk freely in the streets” (Garage Olimpo 01:36:15). The film implies that Argentinian law’s response to el proceso de reorganización nacional was insufficient because it did not punish torturers. Since Maria’s torture incites a meaning-making response from the filmmakers, it seems that the torture itself must be meaningful as well. By assuming that Maria’s ordeal exists within a rational structure, the film furthers my understanding that the state employs torture rationally in Garage Olimpo—even though witnessing Maria’s pain leaves me sickened and saddened.
Despite its suggestion of torture as meaningful, however, Garage Olimpo ultimately challenges my understanding of torture as justifiable. For example, the film’s structure emphasizes the physical brutality Maria experiences rather than the state’s rationale for torturing her. All explanation for her disappearance occurs in a ten-minute clip at the beginning of the film, and for the rest of the narrative, the film offers no explanation for her experiences (0:05:20-0:15:00). Instead, it centers the horrific nature of her torture via frequent shots of her exposed, brutalized body and cc-camera shots of the “operating room.” Frequent close-up reaction shots of Maria and her tormentors further center characters’ immediate experiences rather than any larger context for their actions (Garage Olimpo). By focusing on the physical reality of torture instead of the context within which it fits, Garage Olimpo depicts torture as an endless, meaningless procession of pain, not a meaning-making event. This truth demands that I revise my understanding of states’ and laws’ roles as meaning-making institutions. When they sponsor torture, the state and the law do not fulfill the role I expect from them: providing a logical structure for society. Instead, they separate tortured individuals’ lives from societal function. By demonstrating torture’s distinction from state and law’s expected functions, the film reinforces the definition of torture that Robert Cover and Dr. Boyer both espouse: rather than creating meaning, torture destroys it (Boyer, “Defining Torture;” Cover, “Violence and the Word”).
Works Cited
Boyer, Patricio. “Defining Torture.” 10 April 2025, HUM 104, Davidson College, Davidson, NC. Lecture and slideshow.
—. “Torture and Modernity.” 8 April 2025, HUM 104, Davidson College, Davidson, NC. Lecture and slideshow.
Cover, Robert M. “Foreword: Nomos and Narrative.” “The Supreme Court 1982 Term,” Harvard Law Review, vol. 97, no. 1, Nov. 1983, pp. 4-68. Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School, hdl.handle.net/20.500.13051/2047.
—. “Violence and the Word.” The Yale Law Journal, vol. 95, no. 8, 1986, pp. 1601-1629. digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/2708.
Garage Olimpo. Directed by Marco Bechis, performances by Antonella Costa and Carlos Echevarría, 1999.
