I believe the filmmaker's purpose was to charge the viewer to ask the following questions: How far will I go in obtaining the truth of the world I live in for myself? Am I willing to make sacrifices and take risks in obtaining the truth? And, am I willing to suffer the opposition that will attempt to silence me in my journey? These questions are answered while the viewer lives vicariously through Alicia's own journey for the truth. Although the ending is ambiguous and the viewer never finds out whether Alicia obtains the truth of her daughter, it seemed to me implicit that she does. I believe that if the director had chosen (which thankfully he didn't) to extend the film a little longer, the viewer would have seen that Alicia consents in giving her daughter back to the elderly woman. I have four reasons for this, all which support the questions above.
1). Alicia is the type of woman who wants nothing but the truth and that anything less would torment her mind with guilt. She expresses this guilt to her priest, telling him that she doesn't deserve her daughter if the adoption isn't legal. The lighting during this sequence is dark and dismala directing choice that reflects the inner-darkness Alicia is experiencing.
2). It is implied through her conversation with the elderly woman that despite how much she loves her daughter, and, that to lose her would be a painful sacrifice, she would still stand for the truth and do what is right. And what is right the right choice? For Alicia, it is to give her daughter back to the rightful and secondary parent.
3). Her tenacity to exhaust her abusive husband in telling her the truth, despite getting beaten by him, demonstrates her willingness to suffer all types affliction in order to arrive at the truth. There is a particular shot that demonstrates even the husband's belief that the right thing to do is to give the daughter back. At the end of the film, after the husband has beaten up Alicia and is listening to his daughter on the phone, the camera begins to slowly dolly towards his face. The shot persists for a good minute or so, capturing a single tear falling from his cheek. This suggested to me that despite the husbands love for his daughter, he was beginning to feel that it wasn't right for them to keep their daughter after all.
4). After her husband storms out of the house refusing to listen to her and the elderly woman's case, the elderly woman asks Alicia, "Shall I expect a call from you tomorrow or shall I call?" The use of script development here through Alicia's willingness to initiate the phone call spoke volumes in suggesting that she truly believes her daughter is not lawfully hers. If she had said, "You call," it would have suggested that she was not only reluctant but also skeptical whether this woman's case was plausible.
Even the title of the film, an element of production design, seemed to suggest the quest for what is true. Given the Spanish rendering, "La Historia Oficial," which in English is interpreted, "The Official History," there is an interesting contrast shown between the words of the English rendering, "The Official Story," and its original title in Spanish. The difference is in the words "history" and "story". The word history seems to suggest factsthe truth of what really happened. On the other hand, the word story seems to suggest fablesthe lies used to cover up the truth. Either way you look at it, Alicia's search for the official history (truth) or the official story (lie) regarding her daughter works as a powerful way in conveying what the central theme of the film iswhat is the truth and what are the lies.
1). Alicia is the type of woman who wants nothing but the truth and that anything less would torment her mind with guilt. She expresses this guilt to her priest, telling him that she doesn't deserve her daughter if the adoption isn't legal. The lighting during this sequence is dark and dismala directing choice that reflects the inner-darkness Alicia is experiencing.
2). It is implied through her conversation with the elderly woman that despite how much she loves her daughter, and, that to lose her would be a painful sacrifice, she would still stand for the truth and do what is right. And what is right the right choice? For Alicia, it is to give her daughter back to the rightful and secondary parent.
3). Her tenacity to exhaust her abusive husband in telling her the truth, despite getting beaten by him, demonstrates her willingness to suffer all types affliction in order to arrive at the truth. There is a particular shot that demonstrates even the husband's belief that the right thing to do is to give the daughter back. At the end of the film, after the husband has beaten up Alicia and is listening to his daughter on the phone, the camera begins to slowly dolly towards his face. The shot persists for a good minute or so, capturing a single tear falling from his cheek. This suggested to me that despite the husbands love for his daughter, he was beginning to feel that it wasn't right for them to keep their daughter after all.
4). After her husband storms out of the house refusing to listen to her and the elderly woman's case, the elderly woman asks Alicia, "Shall I expect a call from you tomorrow or shall I call?" The use of script development here through Alicia's willingness to initiate the phone call spoke volumes in suggesting that she truly believes her daughter is not lawfully hers. If she had said, "You call," it would have suggested that she was not only reluctant but also skeptical whether this woman's case was plausible.
Even the title of the film, an element of production design, seemed to suggest the quest for what is true. Given the Spanish rendering, "La Historia Oficial," which in English is interpreted, "The Official History," there is an interesting contrast shown between the words of the English rendering, "The Official Story," and its original title in Spanish. The difference is in the words "history" and "story". The word history seems to suggest factsthe truth of what really happened. On the other hand, the word story seems to suggest fablesthe lies used to cover up the truth. Either way you look at it, Alicia's search for the official history (truth) or the official story (lie) regarding her daughter works as a powerful way in conveying what the central theme of the film iswhat is the truth and what are the lies.