Monday, May 29, 2017
La Candidata Lunes, 5/29/17 Chapter 1: Looking for Guilt
- D.D.
Labels: candidata
Due to the subject matter of this novela there will be strict moderation of the comments. Anything about current or past real-world political situations will be removed. Discussion will be limited to the story, the production values, and the actors' performances. Also, episode discussions will be closed once the next episode's recap is posted.
HOW in the HELL did you manage to DO this??? Didn't the episode, like, JUST end???
This is awesome, Urban, really... what a terrific way to get things started. Thanks again, SO much!
Have fun with this one, gang!! And, as always... my continued best wishes to one and all. :-)
RgvChick
It was great seeing Fernanda Borches of Jorge/Manuela fame in "El hotel de los secretos" as Daniela Regina's secretary.
Rafael Sánchez Navarro playing Regina's husband Alonso seems to have perfected that look of having very bad digestion in almost all of his interactions including with his own wife.
Poor Natalia getting caught in the sheets with her boy toy by her husband Omar. I always like Helena Rojo.
This thing flew out of the gate running in the best way and a BIG THANK YOU, Urban for getting us started. As most said, there were a lot of characters and plots to keep track of but you did it masterfully!
I love how "openly" they talk about STD's. I say "openly" because obviously it's need to know, but the people who know, it's refreshing to see they talk about it without so much senseless waddling around the subject.
Silvia Navarro looks amazing as always! And it's great to see some of the cast again. Including Fernanda Borches, who I didn't recognize despite having seen Hotel. Thanks for that one, Jarifa! I kept racking my brain to no avail.
Also, I prepped for this by reading A Season in Purgatory, which I highly recommend. The film of it was done for TV in 1996 and you can find it on YouTube in three pieces. 90% of its dialogue is directly out of the book. What the film doesn't give, however, is the author's literary descriptions of things, which I try to do here.
The flagrante delicto scene was so brilliantly played. Helena Rojo was 72 at the time of production; I'll bet she never anticipated getting a scene like that at this age.
This is not the first series to deal with STDs; Amigas y Rivales talked about AIDS back in the day. But a sex scandal in politics involving STDs is a whole new ball game and no doctor worth his license is going to dance around the subject.
Bienvenido, RgvChick! Hope you stick around for this. This series won Beset Novela in the last round of awards and if the rest of this measures up to the first two episodes we're all in for a treat.
As for Alonso, even bigger within the story is he fact that he got it from an high class escort, which should be more careful, but wasnt.
Also, poor, drunk Noemi tries to tell the truth but no one listens. Hope someone does soon.
But you're right; I can't recall STDs being mentioned since then until now.
BTW, Rafael Sanchez Navarro (Alonso) is 58 years old and a Gemini. He is 20 years older than Silvia.
I read Blanca Guerra was originally cast but became unavailable and dropped out. Both her and Silvia have a great presence either way.
Sanchez Navarro is also the uncle of Casandra Sanchez Navarro or Flavia in QA and Ximena in Yago.
Jarifa, I think that the makeup department is making RSN look older than he is for this role; I just found a photo of him from Dec 2014 which might be truer to current reality. He's actually quite handsome and looks like he should be a politician.
The backstory is that he was Regina's poli-sci prof and she was his star student, so for him to be 20 years older is not unrealistic. Regina is meant to be in her early 40s here (SN is 38 off-camera) and for them to have married when she earned her master's degree would jive with their relationship at the time. I can't wait to find out when it all started going wrong and why.
I agree politics does make a person age, a lot, though it would be interesting if they touch on the fact that women still have to maintain a certain "youthful" look while men "get better with age."
As for infection, many STDs don't get that far in men anymore because the early symptoms show up more frequently in men. The smart ones get the injections and/or pills before this shows any effect. It's women who suffer more from the effects of syphilis and gonorrhea because they often don't have symptoms and can go for months or years before this shows.
I have checked out El Bienamado and it is amusing. Jesus Ochoa is a comic genius. The actor who plays the reporter is hot and we should be seeing more of him soon. I wish there was a team for it here to keep me on track, but this series is going to take all my creative energies for a while. The way the scenes are edited in my writeups from here on is a challenge because I wonder how the readers will perceive that all this happens at much the same time.
The Natalia/Javier hookup is creepy because of his possible motives for it. I can't say more than that for now.
Just a heads-up that tonight's recap will also be by me and will be posted slightly later than usual. I am going out to the opera tonight and when I post Chapter 2 I will need to close off this discussion. All comment threads will lead with the first post that is here.
This procedure will be followed through this series to keep spammers and other undesirables out of this blog.
The color palette of this one seems especially bleak. As if everything and everyone were seen through a nicotine-smudged lens. All the characters, even the young ones, looked washed out and inexplicably drab....like their moral, ethical lives. And yes, we undoubtedly have some "good" characters. But because they are linked to weak and corrupt ones, that haze of pollution bleeds and leaches them out as well.
An amazing, and somewhat depressing, portrayal of the power of corruption and the corruption of power. But great storytelling and AMAZING RECAP. Thanks.
It's depressing to see how many of Suetonius' works were lost.
I wanted to say something to the group upon reading SpanProf's comments, just because I don't want anybody to waste their time in something if, with the benefit of hindsight that I have, I don't think that they'd enjoy, and that's to say that if that's how you feel, you really SHOULD probably make your switch now. This one is unquestionably NOT going to get any brighter. It's by no means unremittingly dark, but if one could draw a parallel between telenovelas and Shakespeare (a stretch, I know, but please bear with me...), in things such as mood, scope, depth, and intention, La Candidata would be 'King Lear' and El Bienamado would be 'A Midsummer's Nights Dream'. And that is absolutely not a statement of one against the other, either way. Some people are 'Lear' people, some are more inclined to 'Midsummer Nights', both are right. But if one is decidedly more inclined to the latter than the former, than you probably won't enjoy this one. It's an incredibly production, but it is very intense... and if at the end of a hard day one wants to just sit back and enjoy something that doesn't impose a lot of demands on the viewer- 'light' as opposed to 'heavy'- than this one isn't it. And there's nothing wrong with it either- some people prefer a nice fresh sorbet, and some a chocolate cheesecake with crushed Skor bar topping. Both are right, it's all about your preference! :-)
Giselle Gonzalez's next novela is already in the works. It's an adaptation of an Argentinian telenovela that just finished airing down in those parts and was wildly successful, not only because the plot (which, if I were to have to try and come up with a one sentence description of the overall plot would be something like "a story about two very nice couples whose lives become intertwined in ways that they could never have imagined after a tragic accident), necessitates the casting of four major protagonists, and the producers in Argentina gathered together four of their biggest and best. Sra. Gonzalez's adaptation of this work will be called 'Nadie mas en el mundo'
I mentioned that the plot involves four major protagonists, one for each husband/wife pair. The wives have been confirmed- Silvia Navarro and Adriana Louvier. The husbands were announced recently: Jorge Salinas and Gabriel Soto. Since then, Giselle Gonzalez has said that she had NOT yet actually decided 100% on the villains as, apparently, she is STILL being approached by leading actors asking if they can test for the role. She has, however, just this morning confirmed as to Gabriel Soto.
This novela will also mark the Televisa debut of Erika de la Rosa from Telemundo, which is a huge thing as she has proven herself to be one of their most solid emerging performers and, unquestionably, their BEST actor-or-actress in villainous roles since Catherine Siachoque (she was the villain Felicia in 'Bajo el mismo cielo' for which she won the award for best villain at that year's Telemundo awards show, as well as the villain 'Marlene' in last year's 'Eva la trailera', for which she won the same awards. She's fantastic). She tested for the role of the main antagonista and, while Giselle Gonzalez herself has not made that announcement, producers usually only do such things in the case of their protagonists and everywhere I look says she has been confirmed. If so, this is an amazing coup for Televisa as, at this point, regardless of the network, nobody does villana better than Sra. de la Rosa.
Keeping with the villains- Julietta Egurrola (most recently 'Isabella' in MdN) has won the crucial role of the mother of one of the male leads, which is an antagonistic one and a sure-fire shoo-in for Urban's next 'Toxic Mother's list (needless to say, perhaps, I loved the character), and Arath de la Torre has won the role of main male villain, who would be Julieta Egurrola's nephew and as such, one of the male lead's (I'm not sure if this will be Sr. Soto's character or that Sr. Salinas-or-whoever-beats-him-out) cousin.
One youth protagonist has been confirmed- Ela Velden ('Gianna' in MIVAC, 'Fernanda' in AQNMD, the lead protagonista in 'Despertar contigo') probably as Silvia Navarro's daughter (people have been pointing out how much they look alike since casting was announced, and it's uncanny).
And, in so far as it relates to you guys, you should know that Univision has already announced 'Nadie mas en el mundo' (I guess that would make it 'NMEEM' then, wouldn't it?) as one of their confirmed telenovela productions that they will be airing. And interestingly- something that, I think, is a sign of Sra. Gonzalez's increasing esteem in the entire industry- when Univision made their announcement they had to do so using only clips, information, and pictures from the original, Argentinian, production as, of course, nothing on this one has actually even begun yet. That Univision has signed on to a new Televisa production (hence, not their own a la 'La pilota') without not only it not having ever aired, but not even having begun PRODUCTION, is pretty incredible.
(Along those same lines, alas... also confirmed by Univison for telenovelas you guys will at some point in time see up America way will be Juan Osorio's latest, which everything up to this point that I have heard about it makes my stomach tie up in knots, and my soul cry a little...).
Anyway, just thought you guys might like to know all this! Best wishes to all!! :-)
BIG difference between a 'villain' and a 'galan', I know! That's why I HAD to correct my error... of all the things to screw up (it's not like it's an 'it's' vs. 'its' situation, y'know??)
Sorry to all for any confusion... :-(
I am so exited about this TN, after MDN I took some time off TNs but this one is perfect. All the fast paced action, twists and turns, double dealings, pay-offs, underhanded moves, murderers, lunatics, drunks, all I can say is WOW and this is just the first episode. Thank you for all of the inside scoop and such an eloquent recap. It's too early to pick any faves or dislikes, but one thing I can say for sure is that the kidos in these relationships are not coming out unscathed, they are already exhibiting signs of emotional abuse. So sad.
Urban again thank you.
Sandie
You may also note that neither of the two youth participants (Karla Farfan & Federico Ayos) are not in any way your typical-looking telenovela 'youth protagonists' (i.e.- society's general standard of 'beauty'- glowing smile, flawless bone-structure, awesome body/figure). I have no doubt that this casting was intentional. Youth is youth- unsure both of itself, and of what awaits it in life. It isn't really aware of what people are capable of- both good and bad. Things such as physical beauty, confidence, a solid base of support, are things that our society enables to help shield them from the predaceousness that life can have (something which, I have found, unfortunately also enables those types of youth to grow up to become the biggest, most horrible, aggressive assholes in adulthood- life has not beaten any semblance of humility in them, is what I think, but I guess that's another conversation (lol)). To cast two actors who do not project any of that I believe was fully intentional, to show how truly 'lamb to the slaughter' life can be in regards to children and the adults who comprise their lives.
What little we saw is already heartbreaking. It seems Gerardo gives Ximena money for her things, which Teresa proceeds to steal and gamble away. While poor Emiliano can't get close to anyone without thinking he may be a pawn in his father's political career.
I empathsize with both, privately and publicly, especially when you are trying to figure who you are as a teenager/young adult as you can never be who you truly are without there being serious recupercussions.
For example, Ximena possibly can't do anything without worrying about her mother while Emiliano has to decide if the political blow back is worth it before deciding anything in his life. I'm not for filming a sextape but my god the kid can't even do that without Alonso (and Regina) bearing down on him because of the potential fallout.
Stupid fingers! (lol)
I was wondering if you guys would be interested if, like Urban's wonderful 'Toxic Mothers', 'Karmageddon', and 'Weekend Discussion' posts, I were to do something along those lines... but about things- roles, stories, themes, 'first ever' kind of things, etc.- that have been considered 'groundbreaking' GLOBALLY in telenovelas? I'm not talking about going back to when Libertad Lamarque played such-and-such in this telenovela in 1958... just about really COOL things in this genre that the people that read this blog- to whom, mostly, this is a NEW thing, I think would like to know! Truly epic roles (there ARE some other than 'Catalina Creel', awesome though she may be...), internationally renowned (to the point of causing riots or city shutdowns), or just plain interesting stuff about the genre (one of my ideas was to take a "telenovela demise" trope- the one I had in mind was, of course, the worst of all- being BURIED ALIVE, and to talk about it, and when and how it's been used)...
What do you guys think??
Please let me know. Whenever I've come up with something that I'd like to share with you guys in the past, I've always approached the always awesome Vivi who's always great in posting things for me, and hopefully we can work something out? I just really DO have a pretty encyclopedic knowledge on stuff in this genre, all of which helps me to love it even more. FWIW- I work in trivia for a living (which basically means I get a lot of blank and uncomprehending stares from people if I'm at a dinner party) and it was through HAVING to get to know this important type of Latin American entertainment culture that I came to love it as I do (the DOWN side of this, unfortunately, has been the utter disdain that is has given me for most have what we get in North America, which historically speaking has been what they call 'procedural', but oh well (lol)).
Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter, and thanks again to you in advance. Best wishes to all! :-)
And (though perhaps needless to say) unfortunately, you ain't seen nothin' yet! (lol)
Regarding STDs in telenovelas, there was AIDS in Heridas de Amor in 2006 or so.
Stevey, go ahead. I've been hoping that there could also be another Weekend Topic author to fill in my gaps. During my double-duty of VEA an MDN I had no energy for it.
Also, Heridas de Amor was produced by Roberto Hernández Vázquez, who also did Tres Mujeres, which was controversial for it's time but super popular.
As for, Alborada and MPV, they were both written by Maria Zarattini, who is known for including a lot of topical subjects in her novelas. In LFDD, she also had date rape.
Well, I don't have a lot to offer after having only seen this first episode but it does seem pretty clear that this is not going to be another Gancho al Corazón. I'm impressed with the acting by both those actors already well known to me as well as those who are new faces.
I wish we knew which STD Alonzo has. I suppose that it is one that is rather easily and readily treated.
The only quibble I have with your recap is that last statement Alonso. I'm pretty sure he said that he knew that she sent the guys who killed Florencia and not that he knows who killed her... small point.
I hope that I can adhere to the rules set down for discussion and not be one of the undesirables.
Carlos
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