I’m A Sucker for a Period Drama
Once I was succumbed to Netflix adversing. I knew nothing about the series but I watched it and I enjoyed it. That series was The Queen’s Gambit and I watched it purely on the Netflix preview. Fast Forward to earlier this December and it happened again with 100 years of Solitude.
Much like The Queen’s Gambit, I have never read the book of 100 Years of Solitude nor did I hear anything about it. I went in completely blind and again I loved it and thought the series was phenomenal. I think it’s on par with Shōgun, another title I throughly enjoyed this past year and didn’t read the book.
However unlike Shōgun, 100 years of Solitude has more similarities that I can link back to The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I am not saying they are one-to-one equivalent works but they have some commonalities.
For instance there is character in 100 Years of Solitude who is Roma, Melquiades. He has vast array of knowledge like science and Alchemy. Like any good story involving Alchemy transmuting gold is mentioned. Melquiades is an enigmatic character with a wealth of knowledge. One of the main characters, José Arcadio Buendía becomes obsessed with the knowledge Melquiades brings him and it drives insane in the end.
Themes the works have in common are the power of reading, religion and predetermined destinies. The possibility exists that there are more.
Notre Dame is also named dropped.
100 Years of Solitude is gorgeous with some really impressive long takes. Every else from the writing, the setting, the costumes, cinematography, and the acting are all on point and high quality. Check the series out if you haven’t already.