El Príncipe (film)

Movie
Original title	El Príncipe
Country of production	Chile , Argentina , Belgium
original language	Spanish
Publishing year	2019
length	99 minutes
Age rating	FSK 18
Rod
Director	Sebastián Muñoz
script	Sebastián Muñoz
music	Ángela Acuña
camera	Enrique Stindt
cut	Danielle Fillios
occupation
	Alfredo Castro : the stallion; Juan Carlos Maldonado : Jaime, the prince; Gastón Pauls : Che Pibe; Sebastian Ayala; Lucas Balmaceda : Dany, the apple; Cesare Serra : the gypsy; José Antonio Raffo : Gendarme López; Paola Volpato : Elena; Catalina Martin : Mónica;

El Príncipe (international English-language title The Prince , in German "The Prince") is a Chilean- Argentine film drama by Sebastián Muñoz , which premiered on August 29, 2019 as part of the Venice International Film Festival .

action

In 1970 in San Bernardo in the south of the Chilean capital . After the 20-year-old, quite narcissistic Jaime kills his best friend El Gitano while intoxicated, he is sentenced to prison. In prison, he made the acquaintance of "El Potro", the "stallion", an older, respected prisoner who was feared by the other prisoners and who satisfied Jaime's deep need for affection and recognition. A close, homoerotic relationship develops between the two, a "black love", as they call it in prison, so that Jaime, who is now referred to as "The Prince", does not get caught between the front lines in the power struggles behind bars that the Newbie, however, watched with interest.

production

Sebastián Muñoz directed and also wrote the script

The film was produced by El Otro Film, Niña-Niño Films and Le Tiro. Directed by Sebastián Muñoz , who also wrote the script. After the documentary Buenos Aires Rap from 2014, it is Muñoz's first feature film in which he acted as a director. Muñoz previously worked as art director on some of the most important films in contemporary Chilean cinema, such as Turistas and Il Futuro by Alicia Scherson, Ilusiones ópticas by Cristián Jiménez and several films by Andrés Waissbluth. He graduated from the Arcis University Film School.

El Príncipe is inspired by a novel by Mario Cruz. The pulp novel was written in the 1970s, never sold in bookstores, and was discovered by Muñoz by accident. Together with co-writer Luis Barrales, he had developed the script for five years and interviewed Cruz to learn about and research the origin of the story. The story takes place about Salvador Allende's reign, a Chilean doctor and politician who was President of Chile from 1970 to 1973 and whose presidency was an attempt to democratically establish a socialist society in Chile. Allende was overthrown in a military coup in 1973, during which he committed suicide.

Muñoz told Variety : “I believe that there are two universal concepts that affect humanity and appeal to modern audiences. These two great subjects are explored in Jaime's story. One is desire and the other is man's need to love and be loved. ”These concepts would be told in prison, where these imprisoned men only have one another and seek affection and“ black love ”as a form of freedom, that is paired with desire, says Muñoz. In addition, Jaime's narcissism expresses contemporary society and its wickedness, which leads him to murder his friend who was his great love. Regarding the use of Nat King Cole's song Nature Boy throughout the film, Muñoz said it was in keeping with his theme: “It's the song Jaime hears for the first time with El Gitano. Every time he hears it, he remembers. “The song enables him to sing about what he would otherwise not have been able to sing about because of his fear of being discriminated against as a homosexual. It is a song that reflects Jaime's own life story, but also something like his inner voice that will somehow get him to love for the first time and to be loved for it.

For the Chile-born actor Juan Carlos Maldonado , who plays the new inmate Jaime in the film, it is the first leading role in a feature film. The award-winning Chilean actor Alfredo Castro can also be seen in a leading role . Enrique Stindt acted as cameraman .

In August 2018, Muñoz showed a rough cut of the film in Santiago. The film is distributed in Chile by Jirafa. In September 2018 it was shown "in Progress" at the Festival Internacional de Cine de San Sebastián . At the Venice International Film Festival , Muñoz will present the film from August 29, 2019 as part of the International Critics' Week. In September 2019, Muñoz will also present the finished film in Donostia-San Sebastián.

There are some nude and violence scenes in the film. In Germany, the film was not approved for young people by the FSK , despite some cuts .