La regenta (TV series) explained

Genre:Drama
Screenplay:Fernando Méndez-Leite
Director:Fernando Méndez-Leite
Composer:Bingen Mendizábal
Country:Spain
Language:Spanish
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:3
Editor:Nieves Martín
Cinematography:Rafael Casenave
Runtime:300 min.
Company:Televisión Española
Channel:La Primera

Spanish; Castilian: La regenta is a 1995 Spanish prime-time television miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Leopoldo Alas. Produced by Televisión Española, it was directed and written by Fernando Méndez-Leite and starred by Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Héctor Alterio, Juan Luis Galiardo and Carmelo Gómez. Its three episodes were broadcast on La Primera of Televisión Española on 17–19 January 1995.

Plot

The story is set in Vetusta, a fictional provincial capital in northern Spain, where Ana Ozores marries the former prime judge of the city, Víctor Quintanar, a kind but fussy man much older than her. Feeling sentimentally abandoned, she lets herself be courted by the local casanova, Álvaro Mesía. To complete the circle, her confessor and canon in the cathedral of Vetusta, Don Fermín de Pas, also falls in love with her and becomes Mesía's unmentionable rival.

Production

Originally intended as a seven-episodes series of 90 minutes each, Fernando Méndez-Leite successively modified his initial script to fit in three episodes of 100 minutes each following the conditions imposed by Televisión Española. With a budget of 500 million pesetas, filming took place in Madrid and Oviedo under his direction for 84 days between April and July 1994.[1] María Luisa Ponte, who had already played the role of Petronila Rianzares in the 1975 film version directed by Gonzalo Suárez, reprised her role in the miniseries.[2]

Cast

Episodes

The series premiered on 17 January 1995 in prime-time on La Primera of Televisión Española and aired for three consecutive evenings averaging nearly six million viewers.[3]

Accolades

FIPA d'or

See main article: Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels.

Fotogramas de Plata

See main article: Fotogramas de Plata.

YearCategoryRecipientResultRef.
1995Best Television ActressAitana Sánchez-Gijón[5]
Best Television ActorCarmelo Gómez

Actors and Actresses Union Awards

See main article: Actors and Actresses Union Awards.

YearCategoryRecipientResultRef.
1995Best Television Lead PerformanceAitana Sánchez-Gijón[6]
Best Television Supporting PerformanceCristina Marcos

Restoration

RTVE carried out a digital 4K UHD scanning, remastering and restoration of the series, that was originally recorded on film, and made it available online in RTVE Play and on its Botón Rojo app for 4K Smart TVs in 2020.[7]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Méndez Leite finishes filming 'La regenta' for Televisión Española. El País. 21 July 1994. es.
  2. Web site: María Luisa Ponte, devourer of scenarios. Instituto Cervantes. 5 September 2014. Ripollès Iranzo, Joan. es.
  3. News: A personal project with six million viewers. RTVE. 16 March 2009. es.
  4. News: Le palmarès. fr. Le Monde. 29 January 1995.
  5. News: Fotogramas de Plata 1995. 11 March 1996. EFE. es.
  6. Web site: Winners of the 5th edition of the Union of Actors and Actresses Awards. Spanish Actors Union. es.
  7. News: RTVE launches the restored 4K versions of 'El Quijote' and 'La regenta' through its 'Botón Rojo'. Vertele. 28 July 2020. es.