One Hundred Years of Solitude: 'epic' adaptation captures magic of 'unfilmable' novel

Still image of Ursula (Marleyda Soto) from One Hundred Years of Solitude

With its almost entirely Colombian cast, the 'spellbinding' show is a 'deeply personal' project for the Marquez family

(Image credit: Mauro González / Netflix)

published 4 December 2024

It's surely a "fool's game" to try to adapt Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Nobel-prize-winning novel, "One Hundred Years of Solitude", into a television series, said Keith Watson in The Telegraph. "How do you film the unfilmable?"

Capturing the "labyrinthine" book's "towering themes" and "magic realist" imagery should be almost impossible. But, as the first episode of Netflix's "epic" adaptation unfolds, you're drawn into Marquez's tale like "succumbing to the surreptitious skills of a hypnotist".

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Filmed in Colombia with an almost entirely Colombian cast, the series is a "deeply personal" project for the Marquez family, who have "closely guarded" the rights to the book since the revered writer's death, said Veronica Villafañe in Forbes.

Each episode features "surreal images from the novel" that "could easily have looked silly" but somehow manage to "retain their poetic profundity". And there are outstanding performances throughout: Claudio Cataño brings a "haunting stillness" to Aureliano, while Nicole Montenegro injects "wildness" into the role of the "nearly feral" orphan, Rebeca.

Sometimes, though, the series feels as if it is "almost too faithful to the book", lapsing into a kind of "reverent formality". And, occasionally, "quieter revelations" are moved past too quickly, as the writers attempt to keep up with Marquez's "swift pace". But this is a "minor complaint that shouldn't detract from a major achievement". Arriving at the end of a year that's seen many producers attempt to transform "unfilmable" novels into TV shows, this is among the "best of the bunch".

Irenie Forshaw is a features writer at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.