“That far-off afternoon when his father took him to discover ice was to be remembered by Colonel Aureliano Buendía many years later, as he faced the firing squad.”
This is the first sentence in the highly anticipated Netflix series adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s best-selling magical realist novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, which won the Nobel Prize in literature. The teaser for the book may be seen above. Generations later, the words are read aloud from Melquiades’ (Moreno Borja) diary.
The upcoming video transport you to the fabled village of Macondo alongside the Buendía family, showcasing stunning moments as Úrsula Iguarán (Susana Morales) and José Arcadio Buendía (Marco González) pursue happiness.
To Tudum, Claudio Cataño describes playing Colonel Aureliano as both “an honor and a risk,” adding that he felt a “enormous responsibility” for the part. “Macondo and its host of characters—who I genuinely feel are my own blood—are universal but also so unique; they are so beautifully tragic and from Colombia that it is impossible not to feel trapped in this world,” he continues.
What is One Hundred Years of Solitude about?
The narrative centers on cousins José and Úrsula, who marry against the advice of their parents and then leave their community to go far in quest of a new place to live. Their journey comes to an end when they establish an ideal village called Macondo on the banks of a river made of ancient stones, accompanied by friends and fellow explorers. Several generations of the Buendía clan will influence the future of this mythical hamlet, tortured by lunacy, impossible loves, a brutal and ludicrous battle, and a dreadful curse that sentences them, without hope, to 100 years of solitude. .
Published in 1967, García Márquez’s novel has been translated into more than 40 languages and sold over 50 million copies. With the help of the author’s family, this adaptation is one of the most ambitious productions in Latin American history. It was shot in Colombia, the home country of García Márquez, and was done in Spanish.
Episodes 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 director Alex García López said to Netflix, “Directing this project has been both a challenge and an adventure; after all, in life, taking risks is necessary to give meaning to what we do.” “The story deserves it, so when I started working on the adaptation of One Hundred Years of Solitude, my goal was to create something genuine with the stature of an international production.”
Laura Mora, who helmed Episodes 4, 5, and 6, added: “As a filmmaker, and as a Colombian, it has been an honor and a huge challenge to work on a project as complex and that carries as much responsibility as One Hundred Years of Solitude, always striving to understand the difference between the literary and audiovisual languages, and to be able to construct images that contain the beauty, poetry, and depth of a work that has impacted the entire world. We’ve completed it with a great technical and human team, and with love and respect for the literature.
Release date
Part 1 launches on Dec. 11. Check back with Tudum for future updates.
