Netflix Brings Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude to Life with Havana Premiere

Preparations were underway outside the Yara cinema in Havana on Friday for an event that will see the screening of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez's landmark work. This adaptation, the first of its kind for television by Netflix, has drawn attention to the Latin American media, as it was filmed entirely in Colombia.

The first two episodes of the 16-part series would mark its debut under the adverse conditions of having little access to the streaming giant Netflix at Cuba's Havana Film Festival.

It has been a long journey since the novel was published in 1967 to record what might be considered an epic really about the Buendía family and the town of Macondo and includes a very rich image of Latin America through magical realism in history.

Director Alex García López, co-director of Part 1 with Laura Mora, told the news agency that while reading the novel in his childhood created an indelible mark on his mind. García López reminisced how the novel resonated as not merely a family saga, but as a story about a country, a continent, and human experience. The main question for García López is whether humans will manage to avoid repeating mistakes that happen every few generations, or whether they remain tied to their fate. 

"It's such a deeply human book," he said to Reuters, linking the themes in García Márquez's work with the growing split in political issues most observable today in the United States and Europe. "It had those same dynamics back in 1967, and it's just as relevant today."

Márquez and films

One Hundred Years of Solitude is considered a masterpiece of magical realism and a key work of the Latin American Boom literary movement, which helped bring the region's literature to international recognition. The novel follows the Buendía family's story over seven generations, blending fantastical elements to examine profound human themes such as love, power, fate, and memory.

The adaptation, showcasing the vibrant landscapes of Colombia’s Caribbean coast and period-accurate 19th-century costumes, has already sparked excitement with its promotional videos.

García Márquez, who passed away in 2014, had been hesitant to let his novel be adapted into Hollywood-style productions. However, Netflix's approach convinced his family. The streaming platform pledged to produce the series entirely in Colombia and in Spanish, ensuring a unique and faithful adaptation.

Francisco Ramos, Netflix’s Vice President of Latin American content, stated that the agreement with García Márquez’s sons was "very straightforward." The author's sons are credited as executive producers on the series. Ramos highlighted that adapting a literary masterpiece was a major challenge, but he was confident in the vast talent within Latin America, especially in Colombia.

"Adapting a masterpiece is a huge challenge...We never had any doubt the enormous talent from Latin America - in this case mostly from Colombia - would be up to the task. They just needed the support and opportunity," he told Reuters.

Netflix's loyalty to Latin American

Part of Netflix's wider strategy to invest and support Latin American content is that Netflix not only launched the series but also offers adaptations of such titles as One Hundred Years of Solitude and the recent film counterparts of Juan Rulfo's Pedro Páramo, but is also working on adaptations of future works by Mexican authors Jorge Ibargüengoitia and Ángeles Mastretta, not to mention by Colombian writer Laura Restrepo.

But while Narcos or Griselda might call the name of Netflix, García López pointed out how the only adaptation of One Hundred Years of Solitude constructs, in fact, a much wider world than "showing" the Latin American aspect of some poor, corrupted crime folk.

"We almost always export these stories of drug traffickers, illegal immigration, poverty, and dictatorships," García López said. “We want to show the world that we are more than what they know us for."

With One Hundred Years of Solitude, Netflix aims to present a more nuanced and deeply human depiction of Latin America, giving viewers a window into the magical and political realms of García Márquez’s masterpiece. The series promises to engage audiences not only through its story but also with its bold and authentic portrayal of the region's identity.