A King and His Movie

A director decides to make a film. Its subject is an old story. In 1860 a Frenchman called Orelie Antoine de Tounens turned up in Patagonia. He proclaimed himself king of Patagonia and Araucania. The director is taken with the story. He gathers his crew and goes to Patagonia. The actors are not seasoned ones. Money trouble does not let go of him. Technical faults keep after him too. The producer withdraws from the work. After that the crew breaks up as well. The director carries on shooting alone. So the story of the film and his own story begin to look alike. Ulises Dumont and Julio Chavez take the leads, with Villanueva Cosse and Ana Maria Giunta also in the cast, in Carlos Sorin’s Argentine film of 1986.