Cinema
La Perricholi
Enzo Longhi · 1928
Synopsis
Lima, in the eighteenth century. The film recounts episodes from the life of Micaela Villegas, known as La Perricholi, an actress and singer of the city's stages, who seduces the viceroy Manuel de Amat, a sexagenarian born in Barcelona. She becomes his mistress, and the story follows this liaison, remembered as the most scandalous of the century, between the favour of the palace and the boards of the theatre.
Context
The subject came from the writer Carlos Gabriel Saco, who wrote the screenplay, and the Compañía Comercial Cinematográfica Peruana made it a big-budget production: the forecourt of the church of San Francisco for the exteriors, the homes of two Lima families for the interiors, costumes by Miguel Miró Quesada, Guillermo Garland behind the camera and Carmen Montoya in the title role. The premiere, on 13 September 1928, was a great public success; Jorge Basadre nevertheless judged the subject too frivolous to represent the country.
Who it is for
A silent film, best approached knowing that the actress it portrays has remained a legendary figure in Peru.
Prizes and reception
It represented Peru at the Seville Exposition of 1929 and was screened in Santiago de Chile and in Paris; it is the only Peruvian film devoted to the actress known as La Perricholi.
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