Naman Shrestha
Adapted from the eponymous 1967 novel written by Gabriel García Márquez, Netflix’s ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ is a Colombian magical realism show that follows José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán, two cousins who tie the knot against the will of their parents and escape from their village to start afresh in a new place they can call home. During their journey, the couple get acquainted with several friends and adventurers before coming across a town called Macondo, which has a disturbing historical significance, leading them to a century of solitude.
Originally titled ‘Cien Años de Soledad,’ the drama series features a talented ensemble cast comprising Marco González, Susana Morales, Gino Montesinos, Ruggero Pasquarelli, Eduardo De Los Reyes, Claudio Cataño, and Jerónimo Barón. Besides their stellar onscreen performances, what holds the attention of the audience is the authenticity of the mythical and fictitious town of Macondo, where most of the story unfolds.
One Hundred Years of Solitude Filming Locations
‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ is filmed in its entirety in Colombia, particularly in Tolima, La Guajira, Magdalena, Cesar, and Cundinamarca. As per reports, principal photography for the inaugural iteration of the drama series got underway in May 2023 and continued for the next seven months before getting wrapped up in December of the same year. On the one hand, Alex García López, one of the directors of the show, described filming the series as an adventure and a challenge.
On the other hand, the other co-director, Laura Mora, told Netflix, “As a filmmaker, and as a Colombian, it has been an honor and a huge challenge to work on a project as complex and that carries as much responsibility as One Hundred Years of Solitude, always striving to understand the difference between the literary and audiovisual languages, and to be able to construct images that contain the beauty, poetry, and depth of a work that has impacted the entire world. We’ve done it with love and respect for the novel, with the support of an exceptional technical and human team.”
Tolima, Colombia
In order to bring the fictional town of Macondo to life, the production team of ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ set up camp near the city of Alvarado and Ibagué in the Tolima department of Colombia and built the town from the ground up, with real birds nesting in the trees and dogs filling up the streets. With the combined efforts of hundreds of workers for more than a year, the crew created four different versions of the fictitious town in order to reflect the passage of time with the progression of the series. In order to add another layer of authenticity, the period furniture was purchased from antique stores while a team of local artisans was hired to create the fabrics and artifacts for the sets.
Moreover, the crew referred to museums, researchers, historians, and documents to recreate the town of Macondo as closely aligned to Gabriel García Márquez’s vision as possible. They also avoid utilizing visual effects as much as they possibly can and shoot even the magical realism scenes in front of the camera. For instance, the scene involving the ghost haunting the Buendías was actually a flesh-and-blood actor with lots of blood. As for the scene where flowers can be seen raining, it was also shot in front of the camera with thousands of real and plastic flowers falling down.
Other Locations in Colombia
Besides Tolima, the filming unit of ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ also travels across Colombia to different departments, including La Guajira. Given the historical significance of the department, La Guajira serves as the ideal production location for the show. Moreover, the cast and crew members set up camp in Magdalena, the Colombian department named after the Magdalena River. Important scenes for the novel-based series are also shot in a couple more Colombian departments — Cesar and Cundinamarca.
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