La Saga, Negocio de Familia

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La Saga is a popular Colombian "telenovela" aired in 2004 By Caracol TV and currently airing (starting in 2006) on GenTV in South Florida. The show follows the history of the Manrique family, which was prominent in the underworld of Bogotá, Colombia, through five generations. It received the "Best Soap Opera" award at the Columbian Television Awards in 2005.^[1]

[edit] Plot

This is the story of the Manrique, a provincial family that moved to Bogotá after one of its patriarchs decided to try his luck in the city. He ended up founding a criminal organization by accident and decided to strengthen it. Then, he tried to reintegrate into society but tragically succumbed after having created an illegal world.

The decade of the 30's brought a radical, violent, and armed political conflict to the country. Tomás Manrique had to flee his home town with his wife Josefina and his son Pedrito. During the night, an armed group unexpectedly barged in a party killing every male they found to be in the opposite political party. When this war that he had decided not to be a part of had begun, he moved to the capital with his family where he accepted a job in a factory that manufactured screws.

One afternoon, a group of thieves entered the factory. Tomás ended up being the hero accidentally when he immobilized the criminals, winning the respect and trust from his boss Facundo, who allowed Tomás, dandy by nature, to enter and desire his wealthy lifestyle, full of luxury and commodity. But Tomás knows that collecting such a fortune means many years of hard work, and he was not willing to wait so long. He decided to rob his boss's house with the complicity of Pascual, a thief and new friend. In order to get the guns for this, they made a deal with a mobster who, in return, asked for part of the loot and took Pedro, Tomás's son, as a guarantee. Tomás accepted the deal, but things got complicated, and he ended up killing his boss and also later killing the mobster who lend them the guns, and therefore not sharing any of the loot. He rescued his son and got home with a feeling of having done the right thing.

This marked the beginning of a world of crime in the life of Tomás, and little by little, the Manrique rose to the point of a stable income and wellbeing through legal and illegal businesses. Tomás's dream of becoming a well established, honest businessman and gentleman never came true, and he slowly resigned himself to work in the underworld.

[edit] References