Photography does not create eternity, as art does; it embalms time, rescuing it simply from its proper corruption. Andre Bazin, Ontology of Photographic Image A representation of in medium of its own flesh, embalmed corpse stubbornly refuses categorization. What is it? It is no ordinary object, but it certainly is no longer a human being. It is not alive or merely sleeping, though this appearance is ideal of modern embalming; it is a dead body, a physical object that, despite its resemblance to living, is called the deceased or the departed. The embalmed body is also not a representation of this departed one, but is literally identical, physically speaking, with that person. The difference is ontological but not essential: being-in-the-world of person and embalmed corpse are radically different, even if their substance is mostly same. Moreover, an embalmed body is not merely a corpse. Unlike corpses, bodies embalmed for indefinite display do not follow people they once were into memory. They do not decompose: they remain, at level of appearances, identical to person in life. At same time, while corpse is an object and not a person, it is a very special kind of object, death's physical remainder. When corpse decomposes naturally, or is cremated, its physical disappearance is corollary of original, metaphysical departure. Yet in modern era, major figures have been embalmed-not mummified, that is, not simply preserved, but preserved in such a way as to look exactly as they did in life. The story of just such an embalmed corpse, that of Eva Peron, is subject of 1997 documentary La tumba sin paz/The Unquiet Grave, directed by Tristan Bauer and written by Miguel Bonasso.1 Eva Peron, commonly known as Evita, was flashy and controversial populist icon whose untimely death in 1952 is one of most important events in Argentine politics. The documentary seeks to vindicate Evita's legacy by telling of mistreatment of her corpse by enemies of Peronist regime, which appropriated corpse in 1955 when Juan Peron was driven into exile. Though he was essentially a dictator, Peronism represents a left-of-center political philosophy in Argentina because of its roots in labor movement and its restructuring of old, colonial social structure. Evita, rags-to-riches first lady, embodied this populist spirit and represents, therefore, emotional core of what Peronism might still accomplish in terms of social equality and justice. The Unquiet Grave is part of an ongoing struggle over legacies of Evita and Peronism. Peronism continues to be most important political movement of Argentine twentieth century and beyond, and figures of Juan Peron and Evita still wield political currency today. The Unquiet Grave tells story of what happened to Eva Peron's embalmed corpse during thirty-year period it was missing from Argentina. Much of story is already known: after Peron fled country without corpse, military stole it from embalmer's laboratory and eventually buried it abroad. The Unquiet Grave's main project, however, is to prove that military mutilated corpse, using photographs taken when corpse was exhumed for its return to Argentina in mid-1970s. When Peron was ousted by military in 1955, two years after Evita's death, this Liberating Revolution made Peronism illegal and even went so far as to refer to Peron not by name but only as the exiled tyrant.2 Evita's corpse-now almost perfectly embalmed for permanent display-was still in laboratory of her embalmer, Dr. Pedro Ara, awaiting construction of a monument to Argentine worker, where it was to have been displayed. Soon after coup, secret police broke into laboratory and stole body. The new government's interest in body was simple: they wanted to eradicate all traces of Peronism from Argentina-and Evita was movement's most powerful symbol. …