Manuela Saenz

This is the first movie I watched about Manuela Seanz in order to do my thesis. The movie takes the most publicized and well known events in her life and puts them in a movie. It is an overview of her life. I think it is a great movie due to the antiquated tint the film has while Manuela speaks about the past, her life, her love while exiles in Paita, Peru. This is to show the historical aspect of it. But if you think about your memories, aren't they in color? That is why most of the movie is in regular cinematic color. This movie is Manuela telling Herman Melville her story. I will say that you will not fully appreciate this film unless you have a basic understanding of who Manuela is. For instance, she shoots one of her dogs [she is not a bad person you have to see the film] because in her dimentia she thinks it is one of the men that betrayed the idea og gran colombia since the dog bears that persons name. I only gave it 4 stars because it only portrayed the main known events of her... Read more

the difficulty of making films in venezuela is overwhelming. this was a movie done with a lot of love and effort. the theme, worth noticing, historical venezuela and the presence of a woman that is important as well as bolivar in the psyche of latinoamerica. excellent!

Una muy buena pelicula que presenta a Manuelita durante sus ultimos anos en el norte de Peru y tambien incluye recuerdos de su tiempo con Simon Bolivar. Hubiera sido interesante ver algo de la ninez de Manuelita en el Ecuador o su tiempo en un convento antes de casarse con un ingles. La pelicula es fiel a los datos de su vida e incluye la visita de Herman Melville y Simon Rodriquez a su casa en Peru. Los colores varian segun el escenario -- colores amarillos cuando ella ya es una senora vieja y tormentada en un pueblo pobre de Peru contra colores mas brillantes en Gran Colombia cuando ella era una mujer elegante, audaz y joven (aunque estas escenas generalmente son de noche). Los prejuicios tradicionales contra Manuelita -- que no era fiel a su esposo, que no se portaba como una senora digna, etc. -- no deben ocultar la energia y contribucion de una de las mujeres mas extraordinarias en la historia de America Latina. Con el exito de la obra de Garcia Marquez ("el general en ... Read more

As a historian of the Andean wars of independence, and a fan of 19th century romance, I looked forward to the Risquez treatment of the Saenz-Bolivar affair. The incidents and settings portrayed are generally accurate, but the definitive treatment remains to be done. Actually "Manuela Saenz" is two movies. The sepia-toned film about Manuela's last days of exile in Paita, on the desert coast of Peru, is quite effective. Jaworski's use of lighting is wonderful. Beatriz Valdez is good at evoking the melancholy, half-life existence of a 50-something invalid woman dreaming of her lost heroic past. But the movie's telling of role of La Saenz in the rise and fall of Gran Colombia, in which her relationship with Bolivar was only one element, is sadly lacking. The color flashback scenes are fragmented, small and constricted. Where sweeping shots of the Andes are called for, Risquez just offers us the odd llama munching on the paramo. Beyond a little street fighting in Lima, there... Read more

La película no está mal, pero la porquería que hizo Venevisión con los subtítulos NO TIENE NOMBRE! Los subtítulos en inglés están "montados" sobre el video y no hay forma de quitarlos como en cualquier otro DVD decente. Absolutamente inaceptable. Nunca más pienso volver a comprar películas de Venevisión, dan pena.