In the timeless town of Macondo, seven generations of the Buendía family search for love and oblivion, unsuccessfully trying to escape the past – and their destiny. But some things always catch up with us. In the case of the family in “One Hundred Years of Solitude” it is one hundred years of many shades of curse, madness and loneliness. You can follow the characters’ fate on Netflix from December 11.
Martyna Janasik, Interia: Many literature critics and fans claim that it is impossible to adapt the book “One Hundred Years of Solitude”. The author of the novel himself was of this opinion. Weren’t you afraid of it? Why did you take on this great challenge? This sounds like an impossible task.
Natalie Santa: We were horrified and very aware that we were messing with a text emblematic not only of Colombian culture, but also of Latin America and the rest of the world. We decided that the only way to adapt this story into a TV series was to accept that it sounded like an impossible task and accept that some people might not like it. We also knew that the series would be made anyway, so we wanted to be a part of it to make sure the story was presented correctly.
The story in the book “One Hundred Years of Solitude” balances on the border between truth and fantasy. It has a cyclical structure, is multi-threaded and has many characters. How did you decide what would and wouldn’t be included in the series?
Camila Bruges: The question of what we would leave out on the screen was our biggest challenge. Deciding what stays and what doesn’t was a process that involved asking ourselves what we really wanted to say and what Gabriel García Márquez wanted to convey. We wondered which of the events presented in the book are still repeated in the modern world. We paid attention to the repeated behavior of people all over the world who are turning against each other. On these grounds, we selected events and characters in which viewers would be able to see themselves as if in a mirror.
The series tells the story of a hundred years of loneliness for the Buendía family. Each of them experiences loneliness in a different way, sometimes so subtle that you may not notice that one of the characters is struggling with this feeling. What do you want to tell viewers about loneliness through the series “One Hundred Years of Solitude”? I believe that this is an extremely universal story, because nowadays almost all of us struggle with some kind of loneliness, and in the Buendía family it seems to be the main thing that repeats itself in each subsequent generation.
Natalie Santa: More than just the feeling of loneliness, we tried to understand the characters and get to the source of who they are. The book explains why they struggle with a sense of loneliness. For example, the Colonel was unable to love. That’s what it says in the book. We followed his story, looking for the reason for this state of affairs. It was the same with the other heroes. We looked for their fears, wounds and traumas that we could transfer to the screen so that the viewer could understand why individual characters feel so lonely.
Camila Bruges: I am moved by this question and your interpretation of this story. I hope that viewers will also look at it this way, because each of the characters actually reaches a place where they are completely alone and misunderstood, and loneliness is universal and intergenerational. Nowadays, technology contributes to loneliness, as it divides those who create it and those who cannot keep up with it.
This reminds me of the case of José Arcadio, the founder of the settlement, and it was with him in mind that I asked the question about what you want to say about loneliness. I didn’t immediately notice the loneliness he had to face. After all, at first glance he seems to have it all – he is happily in love, he is successfully building Macondo, he is developing and has a knack for learning. It took me a while to realize that he lacked one thing – others’ understanding of his enlightened mind. However, it is shown so subtly that you may not pay attention to it.
Camila Bruges: Exactly! He shows that when you have certain perspectives on the world, you can be very lonely and ostracized by society. You are no longer part of the status quo.
“One Hundred Years of Solitude” is also a story about separation from family roots. A parable about the fact that we cannot escape from them, just like from the fate that is destined for us. A warning to make us realize that if we do not break the harmful pattern, it will repeat itself in the next generations. This reminds me of Bert Hellinger’s system settings. While working, did you look for inspiration in methods of working with intergenerational trauma? Did anything else catch your attention?
Natalie Santa: I didn’t look for anything in psychology. I focused on the book. However, if we are on this topic, I will say that for me the key in the story of José Arcadio and Ursula is madness. He lost the ability to communicate with the world because he lost his mind. His views and later madness isolate him. Ursula constantly repeats that this family is crazy and lives in fear that her husband’s madness will be passed on to others like a virus, until it eventually affects subsequent generations. The colonel’s madness can be seen in his obsession with justice and the conflict in which he leads for as long as it lasts. The love between Rebecca and the eldest son, José Arcadio, can also be considered madness. The same can be said about Amaranta’s inability to communicate with the world, love and forgive. If you look at it from a psychological perspective, in this family it is all shades of madness that make its members unable to communicate their internal world with the external world, become a recurring trauma and the cause of loneliness for each of the characters.
Why is it worth seeing the series “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, even if you think that the book it is based on cannot be adapted into a film?
Camila Bruges: I think it may encourage people to read the book, and it will allow those who have already read it to compare their ideas with the vision of the creators of the series. We can discuss it later. Moreover, it is an insightful conversation about human nature, mistakes, loneliness, trauma and the effects of repeating and ending harmful patterns.
See also: Film adaptation of the famous novel. Netflix showed “Hill of Dogs” at Warsaw SerialCon