RASTROS DE MENTIRAS, the Spanish-dubbed, international edit of the 2013 Brazilian telenovela AMOR À VIDA, premieres tonight on MundoFox at 9 p.m. ET. It is the fourth major work from Globo to reach broadcast television in the US this year following LADO A LADO, AVENIDA BRASIL and LA VIDA SIGUE, breaking a long drought of Globo productions being consigned to pay television in this country. FINA ESTAMPA and ESCRITO EN LAS ESTRELLAS, a pair decidedly mediocre Globo telenovelas, were also broadcast this year, with FINA ESTAMPA still running weekdays at noon ET on Telemundo.The plot of RASTROS DE MENTIRAS concerns Paloma, a woman from a wealthy family of doctors who struggles to follow in their footsteps. While the family is touring Peru, Paloma’s conniving brother Felix, who hopes to be the sole heir of the family’s wealth, reveals to her she was secretly adopted. Devastated by the news, Paloma runs off with a lover she met on the trip.
Paloma gets pregnant and returns to Brazil. She winds up giving birth in a bathroom. Felix finds her unconscious, takes the baby and abandons her in a dumpster where she is found by Bruno, a kind man who coincidentally recently lost his wife and son in childbirth. Bruno raises the child as his own. Years later, fate brings Bruno and Paloma together and the pair begins to fall in love.
RASTROS DE MENTIRAS stars Paolla Oliveira (CAMA DE GATO) as Paloma, Malvino Salvador (FINA ESTAMPA) as Bruno, and Mateus Solano (VIVER A VIDA) as Felix. Solano received most of the attention and acclaim in Brazil for his performance as the antagonist. RASTROS DE MENTIRAS is making the rounds as it recently premiered in Mexico, where it is performing decently in the ratings, and Colombia, where it flopped.
The return of Globo telenovelas – the best in the world - to broadcast television in the US is obviously a most welcome treat for telenovela lovers, though the international versions of these productions we get from Globo are not without caveats.
Chief among the problems is these productions are dubbed into Spanish. While dubbing is commonplace in most of the world, it is increasingly rare in the US where subtitles are now the prevailing preference for foreign language TV and movies. Globo’s dubbing is usually quite good, but dubbing can never replace hearing an actor’s actual voice, so the performances are compromised.
Another problem with Globo’s international versions of their telenovelas is they are heavily edited by Globo themselves. The international version of RASTROS DE MENTIRAS is missing approximately sixty episodes of material compared to the original Brazilian run, and this is before any further, inevitable cuts made by its US broadcaster MundoFox.
LOS MISERABLES
LOS MISERABLES, the latest telenovela from Telemundo, also premieres tonight at 9 p.m. ET. It is difficult for me to work up much optimism for LOS MISERABLES given Telemundo’s output over the past year. Their recent Miami productions - EN OTRA PIEL, REINA DE CORAZONES, SANTA DIABLA, MARIDO EN ALQUILER, and DAMA Y OBRERO – are among the worst telenovelas being produced in the world right now featuring bad writing, worse acting and an overall impression of cheapness.Their Mexican produced telenovelas feature higher production values than their Miami counterparts, though I find Telemundo’s drug themed novelas repugnant, sensationalistic and second-rate compared to those coming out of Colombia.
If I can find a glimmer of hope for LOS MISERABLES, it is in the fact that I have found Telemundo’s non-narco Mexican telenovelas less flawed than their other offerings. I quite liked ROSA DIAMANTE from 2012, thought LA PATRONA from 2013 was a competent, if rather loathsome production, and found this year’s LA IMPOSTORA watchable, if heavily flawed in some of the casting.
My glimmer of hope dims, however, with the casting of Aracely Arámbula (LA PATRONA) as the protagonist. Like some cruel joke, it seems all the worst lead actresses in telenovelas are inexplicably finding a home at Telemundo: Arámbula, Maritza Rodríguez, Adriana Fonseca, Lisette Morelos, María Elisa Camargo, Marlene Favela, and Blanca Soto. My hope for LOS MISERABLES then turns to outright dread with the casting of Aylín Mújica (CORAZÓN VALIENTE) and Gabriel Porras (EL SEÑOR DE LOS CIELOS) as the antagonists.
LOS MISERABLES is loosely based on Victor Hugo’s LES MISÉRABLES, and judging from the telenovela’s synopsis, “loosely” cannot be emphasized enough:
“Set in modern times, LOS MISERABLES is a melodrama about the life of an innocent woman hounded by the law who must use all her cunning to fight back, hide and prove her integrity to her pursuer, who is also the man she loves.” Arámbula plays “the lead role of Lucía ‘Lucha’ (cringe) Durán, a beautiful woman who is released from a Texas jail after serving 11 years for a crime she didn’t commit. In the course of trying to rebuild her life, ‘Lucha’ finds herself playing a dangerous game of truth and lies with her family, whom prefers to forget her, and on an impossible quest to win the heart of the man out to destroy her.”
The male lead is Erik Hayser (CAMELIA LA TEXANA). Aarón Díaz is listed as a “special appearance,” hopefully he will be in hammy villain mode which, while often ridiculous, is certainly preferable to the wet noodle blandness of his acting in non-psycho roles. The remaining cast largely features actors who appeared in LA PATRONA including Javier Díaz Dueñas, Diego Soldano, and Alexandra de la Mora.
FAVORITES FOR WEEK OF September 19-25, 2014
Favorite telenovela: HASTA EL FIN DEL MUNDO (weeknights at 9 p.m. ET on Univision)
R.G. Morin writes a regular column for We Love Soaps, "Telenovela Watch: A weekly look at the world of telenovelas for non-Spanish speakers." For feedback or questions, you can email R.G. Morin at [email protected].
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