13/49
In the timeless town of Macondo, seven generations of the Buendía family navigate love, oblivion, and the inevitability of their past and destiny. This is Netflix’s most expensive Latin American project to date, with Colombian groups and indigenous peoples building the set and props. Adapting One Hundred Years of Solitude into a film seems like an extremely difficult task for two reasons. First, this novel belongs to a specific literary movement pioneered by South American writers, most notably Gabriel García Márquez, in which the story is told by fusing reality and fantasy. At times, this fusion is so intense that it seems impossible to separate the two. Naturally, translating such scenes into film can make them seem absurd and fail to achieve a satisfying cinematic form. However, watching the first episode of One Hundred Years of Solitude revealed that the creators managed to convey this magical and surreal feeling to the audience without it coming across as ridiculous. Another reason is the inherent complexity of the novel. One Hundred Years of Solitude is challenging to read due to its repeated use of identical names for different characters, as well as its nonlinear narrative and frequent disruptions in the timeline. These elements can tire the reader. Fortunately, such problems are absent in the series, which has successfully transformed a nonlinear narrative into a linear one, allowing for a strong connection with the audience. "One Hundred Years of Solitude" is one of the biggest TV and streaming premieres this month. Check out our December calendar for more!