I finally finished La Fiera – it could turn out to be my all-time favorite telenovela. The locations (on the Isla Grande de Chiloe) were exquisite; the acting, top-notch. Mostly I fell in love with the characters. And what an interesting idea for a novela – take Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew as a jumping-off point, but break with the misogyny of the original and tell a more feminist love story, imbued with the local Chiloe culture and myths to create a novela that is distinctly Chilean.
La Fiera, like many of the novelas produced by TVN (Television Nacional de Chile) also has excellent music. However, I don’t think they’re in the habit of commissioning an original soundtrack. Instead, TVN seems to have mastered the art of putting together soundtracks using contemporary music and popular songs, as well as the art of recycling snippets of movie soundtracks to serve as scene background music. Morricone seems to be a favorite (there were most definitely selections from “The Mission” played during some critical scenes); I’m also now combing the racks of record stores (yes, they still exist) for a copy of “The Polish Wedding” soundtrack (composer is Luis Bacalov, who also wrote the soundtrack for Il Postino)…
Well, I can say I’m now hooked on Chilean novelas. I’m now finishing up TVN’s “Estupido Cupido” (1995) – and in real time I’m watching their “Viuda Alegre and “El Señor de la Querencia” on TV Chile. Add to that my continued group viewing of TV Caracol’s “Pecados Capitales” (
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