''El Señor Presidente'' is the most recent film adaptation of the 1946 homonymous novel by Guatemalan writer

Miguel Ángel Asturias Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales (; 19 October 1899 – 9 June 1974) was a Guatemalan poet-diplomat, novelist, playwright and journalist. Winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1967, his work helped bring attention to the importance of i ...

, directed by Venezuelan

Rómulo Guardia Rómulo Guardia Granier (born 13 September 1961) is a Venezuelan film producer. Film/production career background Guardia was educated in France, England, and the University of California, San Diego in the United States. He started his career in ...

and produced by

RCTV Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV and sometimes referred to as the Canal de Bárcenas) is a Venezuelan over-the-top streaming service and formerly a free-to-air television Television network, network headquartered in the Caracas neighborhood of Q ...

(''Radio Caracas Televisión Internacional''), released in November 2007 and is the first film produced by RCTV in more than twenty years.de la Fuente

Plot

This version paints the picture of a hopeless love story—one that is unable to succeed under the terrorizing and corrupt dictatorship. It therefore plays up what is only hinted at in the novel itself, the possibility that the President is driven at least in part by sexual desire.

Production

Perhaps the most striking aspect of this film version is the way in which it was immediately taken as a commentary on the present government of Venezuela. Director Granier divulged in an interview, "We had to film in secret in order to avoid being shut down." Antonio Blanco, who also worked on this adaptation, said that: "We plan to market the film as a Guatemalan story to avoid any problems with authorities." RCTV lost its terrestrial broadcasting rights in mid-2007 when the government of

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

(who was democratically elected, but accused by opponents of harboring dictatorial tendencies) did not renew the network's license.

References

{{Reflist 2000s Spanish-language films 2007 films Films based on novels Venezuelan drama films