Armed with yet another new melodrama, Telemundo is making its latest attempt to capture the Latin prime-time audience.
This time, the artillery is PasiM-sn de gavilanes, Telemundo’s remake of the 1994 Colombian hit Las aguas mansas, a novela set at midcentury.
PasiM-sn’s international debut, Thursday on Colombian network Caracol (Telemundo’s programming partner), is giving producers cause for optimism regarding the U.S. performance, which began Tuesday. The first episode was the most-watched show of the day on Colombian TV, according to Ibope, the agency that measures television audience.
PasiM-sn de gavilanes features Colombian actresses Dana GarcM-ma (CafM-i con Aroma de Mujer), Paola Rey (La baby sister) and Natasha Klauss (La Venganza), as well as an international cast headed by Cuba’s Mario Cimarro, Venezuelan actor Juan Alfonso Baptista and Michel Brown from Argentina.
The story follows the lives of the Reyes brothers, three good-natured men who return to their hometown after a family tragedy to seek revenge for a betrayal. Their original plan is to seduce the Elizondo sisters, the young daughters of a powerful ranch-owner and industrialist who is the enemy of their family. The plan, however, takes an unexpected turn when Juan Reyes (Cimarro) falls in love with Norma Elizondo (GarcM-ma), a troubled rape survivor who was forced by her mother to marry a man she didn’t love.
PasiM-sn de gavilanes was adapted by Julio JimM-inez. The renowned Colombian screenwriter also wrote the original story, as well as other successful Colombian dramas such as AdriM-an estM-a de visita, La viuda de Blanco and Yo amo a Paquita Gallego.
The 120 hourlong episodes are being filmed in Colombia and directed by Rodrigo Triana. Production launched in August, and the first 20 episodes are finished, with 50 percent filmed on location in Bogota and nearby locales, and the other half in RTI’s studios in Bogota.
The new version of the telenovela boasts elements of mystery and intrigue, a trademark of JimM-inez’s productions. The ambience is western, with scenes of cowboys, rodeos and ranches that require vast technical and production resources.
But although it has been generally well-received by critics and TV viewers, the telenovela has also been harshly criticized by Colombian purists, who decry the internationalization of their productions. It’s been pointed out that some of the actors have neutralized their Colombian accent, and there are those who claim they have traded it for a more Mexican-sounding idiom.
In the attempt to make their product more attractive to international audiences, critics say, the producers have diminished the Colombian essence of teledramas that had been recognized worldwide for quality and originality. Furthermore, Colombian actors have said they feel displaced from leading roles by less talented, though more internationally known, foreign actors.
This could very well be the flaw in Pasion de gavilanes: its cast. The novela is packed with beautiful people; however, there may not be much talent here. In particular, there’s leading man Cimarro, who despite his uninspiring performance, got a lot of attention in the critically pounded telenovela Gata Salvaje, a Fonovideo monstrosity that aired earlier this year on UnivisiM-sn.
There are, of course, exceptions, like Cuban actor Jorge Cao (Fernando Valerugo in La Venganza), who once again carries the weight of a telenovela with a powerful portrayal of a villain.
In the United States, PasiM-sn de gavilanes airs weeknights at 7 on WSCV-Ch. 51.
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