20/25
In the timeless town of Macondo, seven generations of the Buendía family navigate love, oblivion, and the inevitability of their past and their fate. It is Netflix’s most expensive Latin American project to date, with Colombian teams and indigenous communities building the sets and props for the series. 100 años de soledad is one of the great summits of Spanish-language literature. Its style is unparalleled and its scope is beyond imagination. Its characters are so well-characterized that any screenwriter would have no problem writing them for the screen. But the seemingly insurmountable problem in adapting the novel was its length. Compressing a hundred years of family history and national history was an impossible task. Nearly 60 years after its publication, the novel has found a cinematic home on Netflix. Only streaming can do it justice, and the first 2 episodes are truly promising. Great cinematography, art direction, and respect for the characters. The voice acting is needed to allow García Márquez’s wonderful prose to emerge from time to time. The plot unfolds smoothly with richness and depth. I love it, I was a little skeptical about GGM’s ability to bring the magical world to the screen. Wow, so far it’s a success in my opinion. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is the biggest TV and streaming premiere this month. Check out our December calendar for more!
