Oh my god, where to even begin. An absolute must-watch for anyone who loves great camp and irony, both of which this telenovela was fully aware of. Cheers to Benjamín Cann for directing this! The first arc had distinct clear settings which were weird but entertaining to watch at the same time on screen without the whole thing feeling convoluted but more like a crossover between 4 different telenovelas which came together to make something fabulous. Arturo has arguably no personality trait other than being a man, but it's totally made up by Nora's character who is definitely more of a protagonist than he is. The middle arc did get depressing with so many ugly stuff happening to literal babies (dead baby, swapped baby, neglected baby, diseased baby), but story-wise it totally adds up to the gothic film aspect of this telenovela. The final arc did need more tension to make Félix's ranch feel more like a death trap in my opinion, but everything is entertaining and the levels of nonsense are amusingly insane. So many stellar performances: Casilda (whose character deserves its own review), Nora (whose poker scenes will stay in my mind forever), Alejandra (with the most iconic lines)... It might seem to be in the "so bad it's good" category, but it's not bad at all, it's just purposefully corny in all of the right ways. It contains the scene I have laughed the hardest at so far in all of the telenovelas I've watched (it includes a wig and contact lenses). Be prepared to both laugh at it but also earnestly enjoy it.
Review of Amarte es mi pecado
Amarte es mi pecado
(2004)
Telenovela, gothic film, camp, high school drama, tragedy, sitcom, psa's, crime drama, and a masterpiece
19 April 2024
Warning: Spoilers