''A King and His Movie'' ( es, La película del rey) is a 1986

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, directed by

Carlos Sorín Carlos Sorín (born 1944 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a film director, screenplay writer, cinematographer, and film producer. He works mainly in the cinema of Argentina.

, and written by Sorín and

Jorge Goldenberg Jorge Goldenberg Hachero (b. 1941) is a prolific screenwriter from Argentina. Jorge Goldenberg was born in San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1941. He studied film direction at the Film Institute of the National University of the Litoral in ...

. The movie features

Ulises Dumont Ulises Dumont (April 7, 1937 – November 29, 2008) was a prolific Argentine film actor, credited with over 80 appearances in film and countless others in theatre and television from 1964 until his death in 2008. Life and work Born in 1937 in ...

and

Julio Chávez Julio Hirsch (born 14 July 1956), known professionally as Julio Chávez, is an Argentine film and television actor. He was born in Buenos Aires, and received his first film role in 1973. Since 1976, he has had leading roles in Argentine cinema ...

, among others. In a survey of the 100 greatest films of Argentine cinema carried out by the

Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken Museo del Cine Pablo Ducrós Hicken is a museum of cinema of Argentina located in Buenos Aires. It was established on 1971 and holds a collection of 65,000 reels of film. History The Cinema Museum of the City of Buenos Aires was created on Oc ...

in 2000, the film reached the 15th position. In a new version of the survey organized in 2022 by the specialized magazines ''La vida útil'', ''Taipei'' and ''La tierra quema'', presented at the

Mar del Plata International Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata) is an international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina. It is the only competitive feature fest ...

, the film reached the 30th position.

Plot

The film tells the story of David Vass (

), an obsessed filmmaker who attempts to make an epic account of the French adventurer Orelie-Antoine de Tounens, who in the 19th century assumed the title of King of

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

and Araucania. Vass meets major obstacles at every turn. Word leaks out to the Argentine media that Vass is finally making his film and he has to dodge them as he executes his preproduction plans. A bigger problem arises as he begins auditioning for the perfect actor to portray the king; when all of the professional auditions are rejected, Vass turns to the street. Unfortunately, the man he decides would be perfect for the role is a

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

who mistakes Vass for the police and flees. Vass eventually catches up with him, however, and convinces him to play the part. Confident that things are looking up, Vass assembles the cast and crew and prepares to go southern Argentina to shoot the film. However, his financial backer withdraws with the film's money and flees abroad. Suddenly unable to pay any of his staff, all of his supporting actors abandon the project. Once more, Vass hits the streets to find replacements. Finally, the group makes it to the location for shooting. By this time they are so broke that they cannot afford proper lodging and end up staying at an orphanage until an actor makes unwanted advances towards a minor and gets them kicked out. The crew, not wanting to sleep in tents, decides to leave, and the cast joins them. Despite this final crushing blow, Vass will not abandon the film and portrays the king himself, using mannequins for extras to create some of the film's most haunting and surreal scenes.

Cast

as Arturo *

as David Vass * Villanueva Cosse as Desfontaines * Roxana Berco as Lucia *

Ana María Giunta Ana María Giunta (1 March 1943 – 14 March 2015) was an Argentine actress best known for her roles in '' A King and His Movie'' (1986), '' The Supporter'' (1991), and in ''Eversmile, New Jersey'' (1989). Giunta was born in Concepción del ...

as Madama * David Llewelyn as Lachaisse * Miguel Dedovich as Oso * Marilia Paranhos as Lulu * Ricardo Hamlin as Maxi * Rubén Patagonia as Quillapan * César García as Bonanno

Distribution

The film premiered in Argentina on August 28, 1986. The film was screened at various film festivals, including; the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

; the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

; the

Havana Film Festival The Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Latin American filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as ''Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana,'' and in English as International Festiva ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

; and others.

Awards

Wins *

: Silver Lion Best First Work, Carlos Sorin; 1986. *

: Grand Coral, First Prize, Carlos Sorin; 1987. *

Goya Awards The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sc ...

: Goya Best Spanish Language Foreign Film, Carlos Sorin, Argentina; 1987. *

Argentine Film Critics Association Awards The Argentine Film Critics Association ( es, Asociación de Cronistas Cinematográficos de la Argentina) is an organization of Argentine-based journalists and correspondents. The association presents the ''Silver Condor Awards'' (''Premios Cóndor ...

: Silver Condor; Best First Film, Carlos Sorin; Best New Actor, Miguel Dedovich; Best Original Screenplay, Carlos Sorin and Jorge Goldenberg; Best Supporting Actress, Villanueva Cosse; Best Supporting Actress, Ana María Giunta; 1987.

References

External links

*
''La película del rey''
at the

cinenacional.com Cinenacional.com is a web portal and World Wide Web, web-based database about Cinema of Argentina, Argentine cinema. It is the most comprehensive site for information about the Argentine film industry, with a vast array of information on films, tel ...

''La película del rey''
film clip at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:King And His Movie 1986 films 1986 comedy-drama films Argentine independent films 1980s Spanish-language films Films directed by Carlos Sorín 1986 comedy films 1986 drama films Argentine comedy-drama films 1986 independent films