Por Estas Calles
Encyclopedia
Por Estas Calles was an iconic telenovela
, broadcast by Radio Caracas Televisión
between 1992 and 1994. It was extremely popular in Venezuela, due to its very realistic approach to the day-to-day life of the country and local tone. It was the first Venezuelan program to give a realistic view of the corruption in political life, as well as the first to show the day-to-day life in the poor barrio
s. For example, it showed the impact on poor people's lives of the intermittent water supply, showing community meetings and lovers' trysts cut short by the news that the water was on, sending everyone running to fill storage tanks and barrels.
It was considered by the Spanish
edition of the magazine Rolling Stone
as the 8th best show between the 100 Best TV Shows Ever in all Latin America. It is believed to be the longest telenovela ever produced in Venezuela.
"Por Estas Calles" began as a traditional telenovela called "Eva Marina". During the pre-production stage, however, the concept changed from a traditional romance to a more actual, street-related story. The original chapters were wiped and the history, now under its new name and concept, began its filming.
The telenovela was initially written by Ibsen Martínez
, but he resigned six months later. It's believed that RCTV demanded him not only an extension (something very usual when a telenovela is very successful) but also a better ending for characters who were very popular but morally questionable, something he was not willing to do. Despite his absence, the telenovela lasted for another year under a team of scriptwriters, and when it ended was still popular.
Por Estas Calles inspired a rival telenovela with similar themes, "El Paseo de la Gracia de Dios", produced by Marte TV and broadcast by RCTV rival channel Venevisión
. But this telenovela was quickly recognized as a bad ripoff, was comparably tame and lasted much less.
One of the show's characters, Don Chepe Orellana, "bore a striking resemblance to former president Jaime Lusinchi
, who in real life had of course been manipulated by Blanca Ibáñez. On the show, Don Chepe and his mistress Lucha pocketed public money with one sleight-of-hand move after another, doled out favors to campaign contributors, developed all kids of illegal schemes to hold on to power, and ruthlessly eliminated political enemies."
Some of the most popular characters were:
The telenovela was surrounded by a lot of controversies, mostly related with supposed glorification of violence and crime, and with the ripped-off-the-headlines late nature of the story. One of the most notable controversies was related with a boy actor who interpreted a street kid who became a precocious criminal.
The success of Por Estas Calles allegedly drove many independent producers into financial ruin, including the then powerful rival Marte TV, which attempted to produce a rival telenovela with similar themes titled El Paseo de la Gracia de Dios. Unlike Por Estas Calles, El Paseo de la Gracia de Dios was not a success, and lasted only a few months.
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
, broadcast by Radio Caracas Televisión
RCTV
Radio Caracas Televisión Internacional is a Venezuelan cable television network headquartered in the Caracas neighborhood of Quinta Crespo. It was sometimes referred to as the Canal de Bárcenas. Owned by Empresas 1BC, RCTV Internacional was inaugurated as Radio Caracas Televisión on 15 November...
between 1992 and 1994. It was extremely popular in Venezuela, due to its very realistic approach to the day-to-day life of the country and local tone. It was the first Venezuelan program to give a realistic view of the corruption in political life, as well as the first to show the day-to-day life in the poor barrio
Barrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
s. For example, it showed the impact on poor people's lives of the intermittent water supply, showing community meetings and lovers' trysts cut short by the news that the water was on, sending everyone running to fill storage tanks and barrels.
It was considered by the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
edition of the magazine Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
as the 8th best show between the 100 Best TV Shows Ever in all Latin America. It is believed to be the longest telenovela ever produced in Venezuela.
History
In early 1992 Venezuela was in a very unstable political situation. At the same time, RCTV was in a low-rating stage. The network decided to take the risk of making a story which took place in the poorest slums of the city in a realistic fashion."Por Estas Calles" began as a traditional telenovela called "Eva Marina". During the pre-production stage, however, the concept changed from a traditional romance to a more actual, street-related story. The original chapters were wiped and the history, now under its new name and concept, began its filming.
The telenovela was initially written by Ibsen Martínez
Ibsen Martinez
Ibsen Martínez is a columnist, journalist, and award-winning playwright from Caracas, Venezuela.Since 1995, he has written a weekly column for El Nacional. His writings have appeared in El Nuevo Herald, Miami, Letras Libres, Madrid, and El País in Madrid. Martinez has also written several plays for...
, but he resigned six months later. It's believed that RCTV demanded him not only an extension (something very usual when a telenovela is very successful) but also a better ending for characters who were very popular but morally questionable, something he was not willing to do. Despite his absence, the telenovela lasted for another year under a team of scriptwriters, and when it ended was still popular.
Por Estas Calles inspired a rival telenovela with similar themes, "El Paseo de la Gracia de Dios", produced by Marte TV and broadcast by RCTV rival channel Venevisión
Venevisión
Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros...
. But this telenovela was quickly recognized as a bad ripoff, was comparably tame and lasted much less.
Plot
There was not a central story in Por Estas Calles. At the beginning, the main story revolved around the tribulations of elementary teacher Eurídice Briceño, falsely accused of murder, who has to hide under a new identity. But the other characters soon took off a big screen time, and became a choral story. During its runtime, Por Estas Calles adapted many histories inspired by news headlines.One of the show's characters, Don Chepe Orellana, "bore a striking resemblance to former president Jaime Lusinchi
Jaime Lusinchi
Jaime Ramón Lusinchi is a Venezuelan politician who was the President of Venezuela from 1984 to 1989. His term was characterized by an economic crisis, growth of the External debt, populist policies, currency depreciation, inflation and corruption that exacerbated the crisis of the political...
, who in real life had of course been manipulated by Blanca Ibáñez. On the show, Don Chepe and his mistress Lucha pocketed public money with one sleight-of-hand move after another, doled out favors to campaign contributors, developed all kids of illegal schemes to hold on to power, and ruthlessly eliminated political enemies."
Characters
The cast was one of the biggest and most memorable in all the history of Venezuelan telenovela. Many actors make his big jump into fame with this telenovela, although some of them never escaped from the type of characters they interpreted.Some of the most popular characters were:
- Eurídice Briceño (María Alejandra MartínMaría Alejandra MartínMaríalejandra Martín Castillo is a Venezuelan actress. She is internationally known from her role of Ana María Pérez, sentimental mother of Juana Pérez , in the Coral International telenovela Juana la Virgen...
): the main character. A barrio raised school teacher who is falsely blamed for the killing of one man. She hides by taking the false identity of "Eva Marina". During the soap opera, she was romantically involved with a judge named Álvaro Infante (interpreted by Aroldo Betancourt) and, later, with the drug lord Sarría Vélez. Although she was the protagonist, she was somewhat overshadowed for the other characters. - Eudomar Santos (Franklin Virgüez): an archetypical "barrio" man, who just care only the present day and has no ambition nor working disposition. Eudomar is a very opportunistic man, who knows his attractiveness and uses it as his advantage. His catchphrases "que es lo que está pa'sopa" and "Como vaya viniendo vamos viendo" become very popular, and very descriptive of Venezuelan idiosyncrasy. At the beginning of the novela he has an on-off relationship with Eloína Rangel, but later he got another girlfriend.
- Eloína Rangel (Gledys Ibarra): a nurse and single mother, who has to struggle with her daughter and her boyfriend, her feelings towards Eudomar and Dr Valerio, and the hardships of poverty.
- Dr. Valerio (Roberto Lamarca): an unscrupulous doctor with a big ambition and a non hided passion for beautiful women, having a lot of mistresses (Eloína Rangel between them) even if he is married with a beautiful woman. He is basically evil, but in a mischievous and almost playful way, who makes him difficult to hate. His main gimmick was that while he says one thing, his real thoughts were heard by the watcher.
- Don Chepe Orellana (Hector Myerston): a rich businessman with political ambitions, and a penchant for trespassing the law.
- Natalio Vega "el hombre de la etiqueta" (Carlos Villamizar): an ex-policeman whose son is killed very early in the story. He then becomes a serial killer with a "punisher" attitude, killing criminals he considers beyond rehabilitation. He puts on the big toe of his victims a forensic tag with the word "Irrecuperable" (Not recoverable); because of that the police (unkwoningly of his real identity) names him as "el hombre de la etiqueta" roughly translated as "Tag man". He blames Eurídice for the death of his son, and pursues her.
- Mauro Sarría Vélez (Roberto Moll): a drug lord who like to show his powers, and fall in love with Eurídice Briceño. First appearing around half of the telenovela, soon became popular.
- The Narrator (Tomás Henríquez): although the novela has no narrator per se, every chapter ended with a famous phrase, usually related to the main theme of the chapter, read by the late actor Tomás Henríquez.
Controversy and legacy
The telenovela was initially received less than warmly. Many show-business journalists give few confidence on the success of such a history who was almost radically different from both the classic soap opera and the then relatively new movement of "Telenovela Cultural".The telenovela was surrounded by a lot of controversies, mostly related with supposed glorification of violence and crime, and with the ripped-off-the-headlines late nature of the story. One of the most notable controversies was related with a boy actor who interpreted a street kid who became a precocious criminal.
The success of Por Estas Calles allegedly drove many independent producers into financial ruin, including the then powerful rival Marte TV, which attempted to produce a rival telenovela with similar themes titled El Paseo de la Gracia de Dios. Unlike Por Estas Calles, El Paseo de la Gracia de Dios was not a success, and lasted only a few months.
Trivia
- The theme song, "Por estas calles", sung by Venezuelan singer Yordano, became a big hit and topped the charts for a year.
- It was the first Telenovela that contained difficult themes such as corruption, drug trafficking, and children on the streets.
- While promoting the telenovela prior to its debut, one of the stunts was a fake commercial for a brand of maize flour called "Don Chepe". Many people believed that was in fact a new product, and tried unsuccessfully to find it in supermarkets.
- In the 1996 comedic telenovela "Los Amores de Anita Peña", who was starred by many of the actors from Por Estas Calles, many gimmicks of the latter were parodied, like the phrase of the end of the chapter. Even in a chapter, the characters were transported to the "Por Estas Ealles" era and met the characters they interpreted then.