SUMMARY

In the XIX century, Matilde Peñalver y Beristain, violating the rules of the aristocracy to which she belongs, falls in love with Adolfo Solís, a soldier without any fortune, believing that her kind father will allow her to marry him. But Augusta has to marry her daughter to a rich man to save the family from ruin. Manuel Fuentes Guerra is the perfect candidate since he’s young, handsome, sensible and has just inherited a big fortune.
Augusta doesn’t know that Manuel was the illegitimate son of Joaquín Fuentes Guerra, a powerful landowner who sexually abused a humble country girl and recognized Manuel as his son just a few months ago, before dying, leaving Manuel as his heir.

To attain her objectives, Augusta and her son Humberto manage to put Adolfo in prison and make Matilde believe that her beloved is a married man with children. Matilde, feeling disgusted, pressed by her mother and knowing that Manuel paid off her family’s debts, accepts to marry him.

After escaping from prison, Adolfo goes for his beloved Matilde and finds out that she has just got married with Manuel. Desperate, Adolfo manages to talk with Matilde secretly and clarify the misunderstandings. Swearing each other eternal love, they decide to run away together. But Manuel discovers her and, deeply hurt, beats Matilde, even when he’s not willing to give her up. He takes her to his estate and there, he consummates their marriage.

Matilde’s stay in the estate is bitter, since she doesn’t love her husband; and besides, she has to bear the insolence and schemes of Antonia, daughter of the former administrator, who is in love with Manuel.

As far as he’s concerned, after an intense search, Adolfo finds out where Matilde is and passes himself off as the new administrator of the estate, so that he can take Matilde away with him. Manuel, not knowing who this new administrator is, hits it off with Adolfo, giving him a friendly treatment. Adolfo, in spite of his jealousy, admits that Manuel is an honest and upright man.

During this time, Manuel and Matilde discover that they had been the victims of Augusta’s and Humberto’s greedy schemes. At the same time, the passionate glances and Manuel’s burning desire end up making an impression on Matilde’s heart, who suddenly, one day, realizes that the love she felt for Adolfo has faded away and that now in its place there is a new feeling, more intense and more real, towards her husband.

Matilde painfully decides to tell Adolfo the truth, that she doesn’t love him any more, though she doesn’t want to hurt him. Adolfo accepts his defeat, and with a broken heart, he leaves the estate the same day that Matilde announces Manuel that they are going to be parents.
But happiness doesn’t last long for the couple. Manuel finds out that the ex administrator had been Matilde’s lover. Matilde’s explanations and pleas are useless, as Manuel is not willing to forgive that she cheated on him again. Furious and even doubting about the child’s origin, Manuel throws Matilde out of the estate. He then tries to forget her with Antonia, starting a stable relationship with her, which will make it more difficult to get back together with Matilde.

The couple still love each other passionately in spite of their separation, but both will have to confront many conflicts and evil schemes until they can consolidate a strong and real love.

OUR COMMENT

As almost all of Carla Estrada’s telenovelas, it’s a pleasure to see how carefully she takes care of her productions, mainly the details of the wardrobe, lighting and set.

The period telenovelas usually work because there are feelings like jealousy, revenge and honor which are easier to give expression to and are more credible in the period telenovelas than in the modern ones.

The cast is also very good and for the first time we see that she managed to make the most of Fernando Colunga who, up to this telenovela, he had interpreted characters which were really affected and corny. The production even achieved to make him speak faster, enabling him to create a much more energetic and attractive character and making us forget those roles of amazed silly saint that he usually represents. His role as Manuel Fuentes Guerra, illegitimate son of a rich landowner, who manages to become a doctor in his own right, is more that well accomplished. Manuel is strong, intelligent, open minded and also sensitive and insecure in some occasions, mainly when Matilde is concerned, which is really a miracle for a telenovela hero. Another original element is that he’s a character full of contradictions; he’s neither completely bad nor completely good, and has a terrible character.

The feminine protagonist, Adela Noriega, is also very good in her role of good family rich girl who, although she believes to be in love with a soldier at first, when she’s married to Manuel she manages to overcome all her prejudices and constantly tries to save her marriage. Noriega cries very well, but she abuses this resource a little – the poor Matilde cries her eyes out during three quarters of the telenovela. We’re not surprised that Adela Noriega is so thin now - too much crying wore her down.

Mauricio Islas, as Adolfo Solís, is a little blurred compared with Colunga’s strength, who dominates the screen; but Adolfo is a sweet character, loyal, faithful and decent and his sadness and lack of hope makes the audience feel pity for him. Poor Adolfo.

The character of Antonia is also original, interpreted by Chantal Andere - a strong and smart woman, who has to move on on her own in a time in which women of her social class could just be either wives or lovers. In spite of what happens to her with Manuel, Antonia is not less descent, generous or brave. She loves Manuel but she’s realist and helps him even if he doesn’t love her. A pleasure of a woman.

Apart from what has been said about the production, other wise moves are the adaptation of the script and the casting for the secondary characters, in which the right people was chosen to give veracity to the story.

THE BEST

The cast. As we already said, Fernando Colunga takes up the screen, but there are also great secondary characters like Ana Bertha Espín in the role of the aunt, with whom you grow fond of in such a way that in the end you feel as if she were part of your family. Helena Rojo as the mother who, though she never gets the ‘wicked woman’ roles, she manages to give veracity to her character. Iván Martínez as the frivolous and amoral Renato is superb.

The introduction of the historic elements from one of the many revolutionary periods in Mexico is also excellent, though the duration of the conflict in the telenovela is not realistic. The historic elements introduce a type of complexity in the plot that places it far away from the habitual love conflicts. The difficulties presented to the characters are more original and look real, instead of dealing with the typical betrayals which are sometimes so crude that make you laugh.

The ending, very exciting and moving, leaves the whole public crying their hearts out up to the last moment. In the jail scene, Fernando Colunga is excellent.

THE WORST

It’s a telenovela that doesn’t give what it promises, because at the beginning it makes the audience believe that it is a risky telenovela, as when Manuel recognizes he likes Matilde, not using the usual prudish phrases but saying “this woman makes me hot” (in fact, we had to see the scene several times to believe it). Phrases like that, much more daring than the usual ones in this genre, made us think that this telenovela would be different, as it was “Corazón Salvaje” in its own day, which introduced elements that were never before, and unfortunately never again, used in the Mexican telenovelas.

However, we see that later the telenovela doesn’t move away from ‘correctness’ and, why not to say it, from coldness in the love subject, that the regular Televisa telenovela shows, in which the characters are always a bit wizened, except when they have to suffer, which is the only emotion they unlimitedly feel. Everything stays in a bluff and the telenovela is nothing more than a good product, well realized, but not innovative or risky at all. In fact, some of Manuel and Matilde’s conversations are almost a copy of Juan and Mónica’s conversations in “Corazón Salvaje”, shot no less than eleven years ago. As telenovelas in Mexico are broadcasted during the family viewing hour, the love scenes are not, let’s say, risqué – in “Corazón Salvaje” Eduardo Palomo and Edith González transmitted a passion that Matilde and Manuel don’t. As we already recommended, the Televisa actors should rehearse the kisses more.

The resource that Matilde believes that Manuel has died is also quite abused; once it’s fine, but twice? The two scenes are almost exact replicas.
The poor boy that plays Manuelito (the same boy that later stared “Amarte Así, Frijolito”), is wearing an indescribable little hat the whole time, disguised as a gypsy’s monkey, those ones that dance with the music from the accordion.

Matilde’s little plats in the last scenes look like crullers.