Guillermo Battaglia Movies

In this heartfelt romance, an Argentine woman married to a Turk tells him of her greatest past love. She met the old flame in 1975 while living with her family in Buenos Aires. She was a young, naive girl and he an anthropology major at the local university. A passionate leftist, active in student demonstrations, he falls in love with her and desperately wants to marry her, but nationwide political upheaval forces them apart. Because the radical and his group are constantly under government fire, he flees to live in Stockholm, Sweden. The lovesick girl eventually follows him, and together they find brief respite living with other expatriates in a country home. But as time passes, the radical grows increasingly restless and distances himself from the girl. In retaliation she turns to the Turkish fellow and, though she is continually haunted by her first love, tries to forge a new life with him. An interesting character portrait, the story is somewhat based on a real life situation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The title of this film undoubtedly refers to student uprisings in June of 1968, as a flashback shows four school buddies hoisting up a burning Argentine flag, only to be accosted by neo-Nazis who beat one of them up. Years go by, and the one member of the group who had gone abroad returns from exile to look up the other three. The setting now is the period of the Falklands/Malvinas war, and as the three reminisce about their past sufferings under a repressive military regime, flashbacks fill in the history of each, especially that of the one student in exile in New York and Madrid. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This plodding drama finds Sandra (Libertad Leblanc) as a prostitute with a drunken father and mentally challenged mother. Her naive boyfriend joins in a triumvirate who ignore her profession and pretend that everything is just fine. Two different edits were made of this feature, one which exploits the nudity of the principle character. The film failed at the box office in it's native Argentina and continued to disappoint at the box office elsewhere except for the occasional porno-theater showing. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In 1935, Paramount pictures made a tango musical featuring the rising Argentine star Carlos Gardel. Not long after that, Gardel, who is widely credited with popularizing Argentina's national dance, the tango, died in an airplane crash, along with many other key figures in the rise of tango music. A biography of Gardel with substantially the same name as this film was made in 1986, titled Dia Que Me Quieras. This 1969 musical is a straightforward remake of the earlier film, with new recordings of the old favorites a major feature. Given that the Argentines could be reliably counted on to be critical of any lapse in production values or failure to live up to the spirit of the original, it is significant that this film was a runaway box-office success there. The story concerns a rich man's son who is disinherited by his father when he shows more interest in music and the tango than in the family business. The boy marries a tango singer, and they live together in poverty, raising a small family. After his wife dies, the boy goes on to become a major musical success, and the story is told in flashback by the much older man. One performer reprising his role from the original film is dancer/comedian Tito Lusiardo. The star of the film, singer/actor Hugo de Carril, here marks his return to acting after several unsatisfying stints as a film director. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

(Andres Mas) runs away from his careless parents to experience the nightlife of Buenos Aires in this dull drama. He meets a young street urchin (Angel Peralta) who shines shoes for a living, and the two share a series of adventures. They encounter a drunk, a hooker, a sailor, and some gamblers in this feature directed by Fernando Siro, who also plays the boy's father. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Caidos en el Inferno appropriately translates to Descent into Hell. This Argentine film offers just that, at least symbolically. Set in the Bariloche lake district, the story begins when wealthy businessman Eduardo Cuitino accidentally kills his secretary. He is all for turning himself over to the police, but his wife Laura Hidalgo insists that he dispose of the body and keep his mouth shut. When the dead woman's husband demands payment for his silence, Hidalgo murders him, claiming self-defense. Cuitino is able to elude the law, but it is not so easy to escape his own conscience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

South American film favorite Carlos Thompson was on the verge of giving Hollywood a try when he starred in the Argentine La Indeseable. Thompson is cast opposite the equally popular Zully Moreno in this lavish "women's picture." During a murder trial, the plotline is revealed in a series of prismatic flashbacks. Marrying a widowed rancher (Guillermo Battaglia) out of gratitude, the beautiful new bride (Moreno) falls in love with a handsome doctor (Thompson). When her husband dies of an accidental drug overdose, the lovers are accused of the killing the man. Gradually, the storyline segues into unabashed propaganda for the "democratic" regime of Argentine president Juan Peron! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title of this Chilean melodrama translates literally as The Lady of Death. Though filmed largely in Santiago, the production personnel, including director Carlos Hugo Christensen, were brought in from Argentina. The title character, played by Judith Sulian, is a member of a strange club which arranges the "voluntary" suicides of its members. Falling in love with the heroine, Carlos Cores strives to save her from herself, even if it costs him his own life. La Dama de la Muerte was based on Robert Louis Stevenson's The Suicide Club, previously film in the U.S. as Trouble for Two (1936). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally titled Las Seis Suegras de Barbara Azul, this Spanish comedy is purely and simply a vehicle for skilled farceur Pepe Arias. The star plays a bearded wanderer named Marmol, who has been widowed six times. Though all the deaths were natural, Marmol is suspected of being a modern-day Bluebeard by everyone he meets. Adding to his headaches is the fact that he is compelled to travel with his six mothers-in-law, who aren't the pleasantest of ladies. Marmol's female trouble is compounded when he joins a vaudeville troupe consisting of seven sisters! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having escaped from his Nazi-occupied homeland, French filmmaker Pierre Chenal (Crime and Punishment) set up shop in Argentina during WWII. Chenal's first Latin-American production was 1943's Todo un Hombre. Adapted from a novel by Miguel de Unanumo, the film stars Francisco Petrone as a fiercely independent Argentine river man. Never one to reveal his true feelings, Petrone is at a loss to communicate with his young wife (Amelia Bence). The two embark upon a long journey up a winding river, a trip fraught with symbolism and unspoken tension. Reviewers in 1943 commented that Todo un Hombre bore traces of such earlier French films as Jean Vigo's L'Atalante. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stella is based on the popular novel by Cesar Duyan. Argentine film favorite Zully Moreno plays the orphaned daughter of a famed explorer, who goes to work as the secretary of her wealthy uncle (Florinda Ferrario). She soon becomes aware that her cousins have been depleting her uncle's financial resources, but she can do nothing to prevent it. If she blows the whistle on the cousins, she'll lose her job, which is the only source of revenue for herself and her crippled younger sister (Stella Rio). How she handles this dilemma and finds lasting happiness and contentment is elucidated in the final two reels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide