Por Estas Calles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Por Estas Calles | |
|---|---|
| Image:Porestascalles5zv.jpg | |
| Genre | Telenovela |
| Creator(s) | Ibsen Martínez |
| Starring | María Alejandra Martí, Franklin Virgüez, Gledys Ibarra |
| Opening theme | "Por Estas Calles", by Yordano |
| Country of origin | Venezuela |
| Language(s) | Spanish |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | María Eugenia Marrero |
| Camera setup | Multiple |
| Running time | 1992-1994 |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | RCTV |
| Original run | March 2, 1992 – |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Por Estas Calles was a iconic telenovela, broadcast by RCTV between 1992 and 1994. It was extremely popular in Venezuela, because his very actual approach to the day-to-day of the country, but has virtually no success outside because of its very local tone. It was considered by magazine Rolling Stone en español as the 8th best show between the 100 Best TV Shows Ever in all Latin America. It's believed to be the longest telenovela ever produced in Venezuela.
Contents |
[edit] History
In early 1992 Venezuela was in a very unestable political situation. At the same time, RCTV was in a low-ranting stage, who makes them became a bit risky. They decided to to take the risk to do a history who transcurred in the poorest slums of the city, in a realistic fashion.
"Por Estas Calles" began as a traditional telenovela called "Eva Marina". During the pre-prodution stage, however, the concept changed from a traditional romance to a more actual, street-related story. The original chapters were wiped and the history, now under its new name, began his filmation.
The telenovela was initially written by Ibsen Martínez, but he resigned six months later. It's believed that RCTV demanded him not only an extension (something very usual) but also a better ending for characters who were very popular but morally questionable, something he wasn't willing to do. Although the scripts somewhat resent his leaving, the telenovela lasted for another year under a team of scripwritters, and when it ended was still popular.
Por Estas Calles inspired a rival telenovela with similar themes, "El Paseo de la Gracia de Dios", produced by Marte TV and broadcast by RCTV rival channel Venevisión. But this telenovela was quickly recognized as a bad ripoff, was comparely tame and lasted much less.
[edit] Plot
There was not a central story in por Estas Calles. At the beginning, the main story revolved around the tribulations of elementary teacher Eurídice Briceño, falsely accused from murder, who has to hide under a new identity. But the other characters soon took off a big screen time, and became a choral story. During his runtime, Por Estas Calles adapted many histories ripped-off from the headlines.
[edit] Characters
The cast was one of the biggest and most memorable in all the history of Venezuelan telenovela. The Many actors make his big jump into fame in this telenovela. Some of the most popular characters were:
- Eurídice Briceño (María Alejandra Martí): the main character. A barrio raised school teacher who is falsely blamed for the killing of one man. She hides by taking the false identity of "Eva Marina". During the soap opera, she was romantically involved with a judge named Álvaro Infante (interpreted by Mariano Alvarez) and, later, with the drug lord Sarría Vélez. Although she was the protagonist, she was somewhat overshadowed for the other characters.
- Eudomar Santos (Franklin Virgüez): a archetypical "barrio" man, who just care only the present day and has no ambition nor working disposition. Eudomar is a very oportunistic man, who kows his attractiveness and uses it as his advantage. His catchphrases "que es lo que está pa'sopa" and "Como vaya viniendo vamos viendo" become very popular, and very descriptive of Venezuelan idiosincracy. At the beginning of the novela he has an on-off relationship with Eloína Rangel, but later he got another girlfriend.
- Eloína Rangel (Gledys Ibarra): a nurse and single mother, who has to struggle with her daugther and her boyfired, her feelengs towards Eudomar and Dr Valerio, and the hardships of poverty.
- Dr. Valerio (Roberto Lamarca): a unscrupulous doctor with a big ambition and a unhided passion for beautiful women, having a lot of mistresses (Eloína Rangel between them). He is basically evil, but in a mischievous and almost playful way, who makes him difficult to hate. His main gimmick was that while he says one thing, his real thoughts were heared by the watcher.
- Don Chepe Orellana (Hector Myerston): a rich busineman with political ambitions, and a penchant for trespassing the law.
- Natalio Vega "el hombre de la etiqueta" (Carlos Villamizar): a ex-policeman whose son is killed very early in the story. He then becomes a serial killer with a "punisher" attitude, killing criminals he considers beyond rehabilitation. He put in the big toe of his victims a forensic tag with the word "Irrecuperable" (No recoverable); because of that the police (unkwoningly of his real identity) names him as "el hombre de la etiqueta" roughly translated as "Tag man". He blames Eurídice for the death of his son, and pursues her.
- Mario Sarría Vélez (Roberto Moll): a drug lord who like to show his powers, and fall in love with Eurídice Briceño. First appearing around half of the telenovela, soon became popular.
- The Narrator (Tomás Henríquez): although the novela has no narrator per se, every chapter ended with a famous phrase, usually related with the main theme of the chapter, readed by late actor Tomás Henríquez.
[edit] Controversy and Legacy
The telenovela was initially received less than warmly. Many show-business journalists give few confidence on the success of such a history
The telenovela was surrounded by a lot of controversies, mostly related with supposed glorification of violence and crime, and with the ripped-off-the-headlines late nature of the story. One of the controversies was related with a boy actor who interpreted a precocious criminal kid.
It's believed that the telenovela contributed to the fall out of president Carlos Andrés Pérez.
The success of Por Estas Calles allegadely drive many independants produces to ruin. Today, many telenovelas were believed to be the "spiritual daugthers" of the style and themes, including Ciudad Bendita.
[edit] Trivia
- The theme song, "Por estas calles", sung by Venezuelan singer Yordano, became a big hit and topped the charts for a year.
- It was the first Telenovela who touched adult and difficult themes like corruption, drugs traffic, and street children.
- When promoting the telenovela prior to his debut, one of the stunts was a fake commercial for a brand of maize flour called "Don Chepe". Many people believed that was in fact a new product, and tried unsuccessfully to find it in supermarkets.
- In the 1996 comedic telenovela "Los Amores de Anita Peña", who was starred by many of the actors from Por Estas Calles, many gimmicks of the latter were parodied, like the phrase of the end of the chapter. Even in a chapter, the characters were translated to the "Por Estas Ealles" era and met the characters they interpreted then.
