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El Santo de la Espada
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Wikipedia article
'El Santo de la Espada' (in English, 'The Saint of the Sword') is a 1970 Argentine historical epic film directed by Leopoldo Torre Nilsson and starring Alfredo Alcn. It narrates the life of Jos de San Martn. It was written by Beatriz Guido and Luis Pico Estrada, based on the eponymous novel by Ricardo Rojas. The script was supervised by the Sanmartinian National Institute. It had a great success, and it is the most successful movie about "El Libertador" San Martn, although it received some negative reviews due to historical inaccuracies.[http://www.losandes.com.ar/notas/2009/8/16/estilo-440668.asp El Santo de la espada y el cine]
Synopsis
The story relates the life and career of Jos de San Martn during the South American wars of independence. It starts with his return to Mendoza province, with the rest of the narration being told as a flashback.
Cast
* Alfredo Alcn as Jos de San Martn
* Evangelina Salazar as Remedios de Escalada
* Lautaro Mura as Bernardo O'Higgins
* Ana Mara Picchio
* Hctor Alterio as Simn Bolivar
* Hctor Pellegrini
* Alfredo Iglesias
* Mario Casado
* Walter Soubri
* Fernando Lewiz
* Onofre Lovero
* Miguel Bermdez
* Juan Carlos Lamas
* Diego Varzi
* Aldo Barbero
* Eduardo Pavlovsky
* Leonor Benedetto
* Eduardo Humberto Nbili
* Rodolfo Brindisi
* Luis Manuel de la Cuesta
* Carlos Lucini
* Miguel Herrera
* Marcelo Mir
* Hugo Arana
* Ramn Cas
* Carlos Davis
* Rubn Green
* Jos Slavin
* Leonor Manso
* Alejo Patricio Lpez Lecube
* Mercedes Sosa
History
The role of San Martn was played by Alfredo Alcn. Evangelina Salazar represented Remedios de Escalada, San Martin's wife. Other important actors included were Lautaro Mura, Hctor Alterio and Alfredo Iglesias; Leonor Benedetto, Rubn Green and Hugo Arana were novice actors by that time, and eventually developed notable careers afterwards.
Most of the film was made in the south of the province of Mendoza, starting by the end of 1968. Some relevant parts of San Martn's life were not covered: The battles of San Martn in Spain are not included, starting instead with his arrival to Buenos Aires and the First Triumvirate requesting him to create the Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers.
His relation with Remedios de Escalada receives an important coverage, but with an important fact left unattended: after the emancipation of Chile and Peru, San Martn resigns to his powers in Peru after his meeting with Simon Bolivar, in the Guayaquil conference; he returns to Mendoza, upon receiving a letter informing him of the grave illness of Remedios. When he returned to Mendoza, he found Remedios already dead.
It was premiered in Mendoza on March 25, 1970, and quickly became a blockbuster. A few months later, a group of revisionists created a documental movie about San Martn, in an effort to make clear some events the film narrated.
See also
* Jos de San Martn
References
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