at least i now know what movie they were watching

A commenter named Michael has found some details on the Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa feud:

A little googling - marquez+llosa+1976+cine - and I might have a couple of answers, though no idea whether the information I've uncoverd is accurate. The movie in question that fateful day appears to have been René Cardona's, "La odisea de los Andes". According to this site:

http://despistado.blogspot.com/2006/09/vargas-llosa-vs-garca-mrquez.html

The dispute was over Llosa's wife, Patricia, somehow. There are at least two versions of why they came to blows, or so it says. Another site discusses the incident, here:

http://www.geocities.com/awcampos/vpolemica.html

Thank you! This is one more reason why i need to learn Spanish properly, instead of the abominable excuse for it that i hate to admit that i know... which does not even qualify as pidgin Spanish. This seems to be the film in the IMDB, and yep, it seems that it was the original take of the story that wound up in American theaters as Alive.