Fietta Jarque, a journalist and art critic, has been a contributor to Spain’s El País newspaper since 1984, working in the Arts section and the Babelia supplement. She is also the author of four books, including Donde Dennis Hopper perdió el poncho. This book tells the story behind the cult feature film The Last Movie, filmed in 1970 in the town of Chinchero, Cusco, directed by the filmmaker and actor Dennis Hopper, and written by him and the screenwriter of Rebel Without a Cause, Stewart Stern. The film is about a Hollywood production team that goes to the Sacred Valley of the Incas to film a Western. Hopper, who plays a stuntman, stays in the town once the production is finished and falls in love with a prostitute. Meanwhile, locals take over the film set, emulating the story of the film, erasing the margins between reality and fiction. All this is covered in Jarque’s book, and the author offers us a glimpse behind the camera, revealing what happened when the film was being made and relating the excesses of stars such as Kris Kristofferson, Julie Adams, Stella Garcia, Peter Fonda, Dean Stockwell, Toni Basil, Russ Tamblyn and Michelle Phillips, and also the film’s sad fate: to be a critical and box office failure, and to remain forgotten for half a century. The famous Peruvian artist Fernando de la Jara worked with Dennis Hopper as art director of The Last Movie, and together with Fietta Jarque he will tell us about this intriguing episode, in conversation with Miguel Barreda.
