There are some novels that are classics but tough to adapt. How many times did it take to adapt Dune, for instance, before Denis Villeneuve got it right? One such novel was One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. Ten years after the author’s death, and five years after announcing that the novel would be adapted into a series, Netflix has presented the first screen adaptation.
Opening Shot: Wind blows through a window. We see a picture of a family.
The Gist: As Colonel Aureliano Buendía (Claudio Cataño) faces a firing squad, he thinks back to the time his father introduced him to the concept of ice.
But things go further back than that, to the marriage of José Arcadio Buendía (Marco González) to Úrsula Iguarán (Susana Morales). They were cousins, and though the marriage was expected, Úrsula’s mother insisted that her daughter wear a chastity belt, for fear that she would give birth to “iguanas”. Úrsula even recounts the story of a child with a pig’s tail born to another couple who were cousins.
After a cockfight, one of the townspeople makes a joke to José about his wife’s chastity. José comes back with a spear and throws it right into the man’s neck. That convinces José that he and Úrsula should take the chance and make those “iguanas.” Despite being acquitted due to it being an honor killing, the ghost of the man haunts the couple, to the point where José decides the two of them should leave town. In fact, they should trek across the mountains and find the sea, which no one they knew had ever done.
A group of friends and their families go with them. They cross the mountains and a great swamp. Úrsula, pregnant when they left, has a tail-free baby, which is named after his father. After wandering the swamp for months, José has a vision about a utopian city built where they have made camp. He decides to settle there and name the village Macondo.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The series is based on Gabriel García Márquez’ classic 1967 novel of the same name. It’s sprawling narrative reminds us a bit of Shōgun.
Our Take: Márquez’ novel covers seven generations of the Buendía family, and the author’s desire to make sure the story wasn’t cut was one of the reasons why the novel wasn’t brought to the screen during his lifetime. In the case of this series, it will take 16 hour-long episodes, split into two parts, to cover it all. But it’s that kind of attention to not cutting corners on the story that makes it work on screen.
The series looks great, with lush locations in Colombia and elaborate sets, from the tents that were set up when the town first started to the more traditional homes of later generations. The story’s feeling of mysticism is also intact, with things like the ghost haunting José and Úrsula looking more like a houseguest that overstayed his welcome and the dreams that José had about Macondo.
Even some of the story’s asides, like when José tries to use the magnets sold to him by a Traveler named Melquiades (Moreno Borja) to find hidden gold but just finds armor-clad skeletons instead, don’t feel like rambling. It’s all a part of José’s adventurous spirit and his desire to make Macondo a utopia.
Will the story go in chronological order, through the generations, or move back and forth? We get some indication that it might move back and forth a bit, as we see the birth of Aureliano, the second son of José and Úrsula, shortly before we come back to him on the firing line. It feels like Aureliano will be the center of the story at some point, but we’re not sure when that will happen and for how long. But the show is paced so well that we’ll enjoy the ride until we get there.
Sex and Skin: There is definitely nudity; Úrsula is nude in a couple of scenes, but so is her 5-year-old son José, gleefully running through the village sans clothes. There are multiple sex scenes between José and Úrsula.
Parting Shot: Yet another shot of Aureliano on the firing line, hoping to see a sign of death announcing itself.
Sleeper Star: Moreno Borja’s character Melquiades looks like he’s a snake oil salesman, but he’s really pedaling science. He isn’t even willing to sell his magnets to José, because he knows that it won’t attract precious medals. He’s honest to a fault.
Most Pilot-y Line: We see a scene where a member of the caravan almost gets pulled over a cliff by a struggling donkey. But it doesn’t seem like anyone else died. Is that mysticism at work?
Our Call: STREAM IT. One Hundred Years Of Solitude manages to do justice to the ambitious and sprawling novel it is based on, with good performances and expert writing and directing.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.