One Hundred Years of Solitude Series Review: Of Mothers, Memories, Monsters
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Madly in love, cousins Jose Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarín get married against their parents wishes, who strongly fear their union would lead to the birth of iguanas or monsters. Well, that’s one way to spook people against inbreeding…! Scorned by his family, and mocked by some others, Arcadio decides to leave his village, and find a new place to settle by the sea. A large group of friends follow the newly wed couple, and after weeks of walking, camping, and living like nomads, they finally give up hopes of finding the sea, and settle for founding a village by the river. Arcadio names it Macondo, and thus begins an multi-generational saga of the Buendía family, their trials, triumphs, and tragedies.
Based on Gabriel García Márquez’s famous 1967 novel of the same name, Netflix series “One Hundred Years of Solitude” spans eight episodes, and is a slowburn show that flits between being an engaging cinematic treat and a mildly boring family drama. Marco González plays the young José Arcadio Buendía in the first few episodes, a passionate, ambitious young man, who is more of a dreamer than doer, much to the chagrin of his fierce wife Ursula (Susana Morales Cañas). For several years, Macondo is located in a maze-like swamp area, largely cut off from the world, except for an annual visit by a troupe of gypsies, thus the title – One Hundred Years of Solitude, more metaphorical, than literal.
Leisurely paced, the eight-episode series is a visually engaging offering that captures a forgotten slice of Colombia, a time when people lived in tightly knit communities and shared their food, beliefs, and superstitions. However, some of the set pieces depicting the idyllic town of Macondo appear overly neat and organized, as if it were a miniature diorama created by university students. Spanning several decades, the story remains rooted in Macondo, charting its transformation from a small community of mud houses to a bustling town adorned with beautiful Spanish villas.
While José Arcadio Buendía initially appears to be the primary protagonist, it is his wife, Úrsula, who emerges as the true matriarch of the family. She holds the family together, establishes a thriving candy business, and provides stability, all while her husband becomes consumed by his obsession with scientific knick-knacks, isolating himself in his private laboratory until he ultimately loses his sanity. In-fact, most Buendía men are lost to different obsessions, mostly women, usually cousins, sisters or someone equally ‘forbidden’. Ursula’s daughters too find themselves entangled in a bitter love-triangle, ironically complicated by the arrival of Christianity in Macondo. And even though religion isn’t a dominant theme, the subtle infiltration of Christianity in the otherwise secular community serves as an interesting reminder of how easy it is to sway non-believers with the fear of God.
Susana Morales Cañas as the young Ursula wears a perpetually disappointed look on her face through the early episodes, even in scenes where more facial variations would’ve been preferred. Marleyda Soto as the older Ursula is more memorable, and while she too looks angered or disappointed most of the runtime, at least her embittered experiences earn the weather-worn expressions. The only other female character that comes close to Ursula’s tempestuous personality is her adopted daughter Rebeca, who arrives as a wild little child (Nicole Montenegro Sánchez) at the Buendía household, a girl with a weird affliction – she eats mud when upset. Rebeca grows into a young, beautiful, amorous woman, whose impassioned screams shake the entire house, a loud protest against the delay in her marriage to her sweetheart. Loren Sofía plays Amaranta, Ursula’s youngest daughter, who unfortunately falls for the same man as Rebeca and schemes to keep the couple apart.
Ursuala’s middle-child Aureliano Buendía is the most colorful, complex, and problematic character of “One Hundred Years of Solitude” and the actors are aptly cast for the role. While a young Aureliano (Jerónimo Barón) is a shy, quiet, introvert who spends all his time in his father’s lab and under his older brother Arcadio’s shadow, the older Aureliano (Claudio Cataño) becomes a Colonel, leading a band of rebels against a violent political struggle for power in Macondo. Janer Villareal plays Arcadio, Ursula’s illegitimate grandson, born to her eldest son José Arcadio (yes, too many Arcadios in the show!), who is raised in the same house without knowing who his parents are.
In one of the stranger, comedic chapters of Netflix series “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, an odd plague engulfs the small town where the story is set in, one that turns all residents into insomniacs. While the first few nights are like one big town party, slowly, people start to lose their memories, and start labelling most things, ‘wall’, ‘anvil’, or the stove is labelled as “stove: all food must be heated”. But despite rigorous labeling of things, people lose a sense of their self and all their surroundings, leading to madness, rioting, until someone finds a cure. It takes a few seconds for the real significance of this insomnia plague to become apparent, perhaps it is Gabriel García Márquez’s way of displaying the fragility of human memory, the ease with which people can forget their roots and identity. The consequence? Chaos.
Through the experiences of the Buendía family, Macondo transforms into a microcosm of a shifting society. Initially isolated from the outside world, it gradually becomes entangled in the broader political struggles of the nation. Overall, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is an easy to watch tale of family, love, secrets, desires, heartbreak, and violence. Episode eight, the final chapter, concludes with a gripping cliffhanger, setting the stage for a potential second season. However, for those seeking closure, the episode also brings the story full circle, culminating in Úrsula’s haunting realization that she truly gave birth to a monster.
Rating: 7 on 10. Watch the series on Netflix.
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