25/38
In the timeless city of Macondo, seven generations of the Buendía family navigate love, oblivion, and the inevitability of their past and destiny. It is Netflix’s most expensive project in Latin America to date, with Colombian groups and indigenous communities producing the props and sets for the series. Adapting One Hundred Years of Solitude into a film seems like an extremely difficult task for two main reasons. First, the novel belongs to a specific literary movement started by South American writers, especially Gabriel García Márquez, in which the story is told by mixing reality and fantasy. Sometimes this connection is so intense that separating the two seems impossible. Naturally, when translating such scenes into cinema, they risk appearing absurd and not achieving a satisfactory cinematic form. However, watching the first episode of the One Hundred Years of Solitude series showed that the creators managed to convey this magical and surreal feeling to the audience without appearing ridiculous. The second reason is the inherent complexity of the novel. One Hundred Years of Solitude is a difficult read due to the repeated use of the same names for different characters, as well as the nonlinear narrative and frequent disruptions to the timeline. These elements can wear the reader out. Fortunately, such problems are absent in a series that has successfully transformed its nonlinear narrative into a linear one, allowing it to forge a strong connection with its viewers. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is one of the biggest TV and streaming premieres this month. Check out our December calendar to find out more!