Customer Reviews

La Duena

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I watch lots of telenovelas but have not wished to own one on dvd - for the sake of one's emotional health, one should limit one's intake of melodrama enhanced by scenery-chewing actors... Recently, though, I indulged my long-lived, sadly unrequited crush on Cuban actor Francisco Gattorno and bought a copy of La Duena, the Mexican soap that made him a star (believe it or not, he looks even better in his most recent novela, "La Viuda de Blanco" (2006-2007), than he did 12+ years ago when he made "La Duena." Age definitely becomes him...). But I must say that though I can't compare it to the original, it's obvious that it's been horrifically butchered by some very untalented editors for conversion to dvd. The story line remains intact and easy to follow for the most part, but it's SO chopped up. And what's most annoying is that they even cut the love scenes (o mejor dicho, esp. about this novela, "I secretly love you but I wish I didn't cuz I'm so mad at you" scenes) absurdly short...

I think La Duena, in its original form, was a good telenovela. It was very popular on Televisa in Mexico. As in most telenovelas, the rural setting is gorgeous. The main character, Regina (Angelica Rivera), is left at the alter by her two-timing, gold-digging fiance Mauricio, and runs away to her hacienda, Las Cascabeles, to heal her wounds. But she's very angry, bitter, and unhappy, and it's not long before everyone at Las Cascabeles, and in town, San Ignacio, is afraid of her. Except for her very handsome and strong-willed neighbor, Jose Maria Cortez (Gattorno, who else?), who suspects she's hiding real heartache and falls in love with her despite her very prickly exterior.

It seems to be the concensus of cyber-critics that all of the DVDs of telenovels are very poorly done. Too bad. So - buyer beware...

This Soup opera has ONLY 1 DVD double side not two as the amazon says.
This resume is so short an bad, I prefer the complete soup opera.

This is one of the best Telenovelas of all time. This DVD, like the others in this series, is an edited version, but shows from beginning to end the whole story. It does leave out alot of details but you still get 4 1/2 hours of footage. I recommend this to anybody who has seen or never seen the novela. I was very happy just to experience the novela again.

Could have used about another 2-3 hours to fill in some of the gaps, but I really like the rancho type telenovelas with men on horses:o) Plus I've watched just about everything that angelica rivera has made.

First thing, this edition is way too short to actually be able to tell the story. It is way too edited and you should try to watch the entire thing (if possible an available). Regina was left at the altar by her fiancee. She goes to a ranch she owns and vows never to fall for a man again. In the process she becomes hardened and bitter. But, enter José María, the owner(?) of the ranch next door. He breaks down her defenses and they fall in love. Of course, a bunch of people try to break them up, especially her cousin (Cynthia Klithbo) who is also in love with Jose Maria. The telenovela is pretty good. It had ok acting, beautiful scenery and the usual plotline: Man and woman fall in love and people try to break them apart.

La Dueñia is not just another telenovela that you watch and then forget. Very few television productions have the impact that La Dueñia has on its viewers. Regina's untamed, socially unacceptable rebeldia surfaces when her future husband dumps her waiting at the alter. It is then that Regina's strong, imposing character takes over to heal her wounds and turn her life around from the fairy tale wedding ending(with the kids, the husband and the white fence) to a life of questioning what she always was taught to believe, of believing in what she wants and living the life she needs to live so she can feel whole and filled up. Regina goes against the world, religion, the forces of nature but really just against her own fears. She becomes a new woman, not afraid to be different, to suffer, to wear what she wants and dream her own dreams away from all conventions. Regina finds herself away from a society that suppressed her passion, strength and skills without her knowing. A very colorful reflection of that is given with Regina playing the saxophone, an instrument she says she will have to give up and learn how to cook since her future husband "is not going to eat the saxophone". When she is free of the chains of love and commitment, free from thinking she owes the world to be good and kind(what she has been taught to be "kindness") she plays the saxophone in some very emotional, colorful scenes that will delight the viewer with their intensity and the great acting of an impeccable Angelica Rivera. It is when she unleashes her passion and strength that she finds true love, a love coming from Jose Maria, a man who loves her for who she is, for the strong, untamed by society and men, woman she is. Against her will, for a long while, she falls in love with Jose Maria only to discover that it is the kind of passionate love she needs! After all the fighting then, Regina does get to the alter; having regained her faith in god(through a very personal connection with the divine) and love that can come to complete and not imprison you. She arrives at church, late enough for Jose Maria to think she is not coming, but she does come. All her doubts have disappeared when she decided not to wear her wedding dress but a pair of pants, "this is the woman I am now and I'm not going to change" she tells Jose Maria and asks him if he wants this woman, his answer is obvious, "this is the woman I fell in love with" he says. So the wedding does go on, with some wild lilies instead of the conventional wedding bouquet and the couple leaving the church riding a horse to remind us that Regina is who a bittern experience helped her allow herself to be, and hasn't enclosed herself in who she was before just because she found happiness again(profound; discovered deep within who she is, kind of happiness this time). After all, it is in the new, unconventional context of her life that she found true happiness. Excellent acting, strong, well written script, great production. Too bad the DVD is just a summary and not the whole telenovela but it's just enough to get you to realize what a precious jewel this telenovela is!

La historia es buena y para estar tan resumida, pues dura mas o menos cinco horas, está bien contada. Se entiende la historia, eso si, las sub-historias las cortaron todas pero al final uno se entera de ellas.

I saw the orignial version of this story called "LA DUENA" starring Angelica Rivera and Francisco Gattorno. "SOY TU DUENA" (I'm Your Owner) while the two main actors, Lucero (a popular Mexican singer and actress) and Fernando Colunga (the Mexican version of Mel Gibson) did a fantastic job, it is nothing more than a remake. I saw the very first episode to the last during the course of 6 months, and almost every scene and dailouge was EXACTLY the same as "LA DUENA." I'm very famimliar with the orignial so I'm not exagerating. The only MAJOR difference between the two novelas is the final episode (gran final) when the two main characters are about to get married and the villin in the 2010 version comes back armed with a pistol when he was supposed to be dead. During the orignal, the wedding was even greater because there was not 1 but 4 weddings at the same time! Another difference is the names of each character is changed: The owner in the original is called Regina Vidareal, in the new version is Valentina. The town for which she is owner of is called Los Cascabeles is both versions.
STORY PLOT: A beautiful, young and generous woman is left alone at the altar on the day of her wedding, betrayed by her fiance and unknown to her, her own cousin (Laura in the oringinal becomes Ivana in the new,) who is like a sister to her. Regina (or Valentina) was orphaned when her parents both died in a terrible car accident when she was a child. Her aunt, the mother of Laura (or Ivana) raised her. After suffering a major breakdown, pain turns to bitterness and forces Regina (Valentina) to leave for the town she once swore never to return to, Los Cascabeles, of which inherited from her parents and she is now the owner of. It is not until the arrival of a handsome young man in a neighboring town that Regina's (Valentina's) life is forever changed. In him she will find compassion, understanding, friendship and above all...love. And that is exactly what she fears the most, to fall in love and be hurt again. But the man in charge of Los Cascabeles (Macario, or Rosendo) is obessed with the beautiful young owner of the town, and will not allow any man to get near her. Laura (Ivana) the cousin meanwhile always jealous of what Regina (Valentina) has will stop at nothing to take everything Regina holds most dear...including her new found love. Can the passion and love of one man soften the heart of the owner of the town (la duena?)

NOTE: LA DUENA has English subtitles, but the only set back is that it has been edited and chopped down so much, it has been reduced to 6 hours. But it still is a great dvd giving only the most important scenes enough to explain the story and main characters. SOY TU DUENA is much longer on dvd and gives more of the story in general, but I don't know if it has English subtitiles.

Compared to some of the editing out there on some novelas I didn't find this one so bad since I knew the whole story. I enjoyed seeing this group of actors and I must say La Duena is up there in my list of favorite novelas. I only received one disc that's 2 sided.

First thing, this edition is way too short to actually be able to tell the story. It is way too edited and you should try to watch the entire thing (if possible an available). Regina was left at the altar by her fiancee. She goes to a ranch she owns and vows never to fall for a man again. In the process she becomes hardened and bitter. But, enter Jose Maria, the owner(?) of the ranch next door. He breaks down her defenses and they fall in love. Of course, a bunch of people try to break them up, especially her cousin (Cynthia Klithbo) who is also in love with Jose Maria. The telenovela is pretty good. It had ok acting, beautiful scenery and the usual plotline: Man and woman fall in love and people try to break them apart.