Inés del alma mía

Acceptable historical series in 8 episodes based on a 2006 novel by Isabel Allende with nice acting, decent settings and breathtaking battles. This is based on the true story of the first woman "conquistador" Inés de Suárez (Elena Rivero) who went to the South American land that would become Chile, and helped to create the city of Santiago . Dealing with Pedro Valdivia (Eduardo Noriega) who in Peru he became attached to Inés Suárez , a widow who accompanied him to Chile as his mistress. As Suárez became the mistress of Pedro de Valdivia, the conqueror of Chile. The earliest mention of her friendship with Valdivia was after he returned from the Battle of Las Salinas (1538) in which Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru, fought against Almagro . Although they were from the same area of Spain -Extremadura- and at least one novelist relates a tale of long-standing love between them, there is no real evidence that they had met prior to her arrival in Cuzco.

This is a fictitious and real story contextualized at the 16th Century, interwoven with historical happenings. It is a romantic historical drama containing feats , thrills, sword-play, spectacular battles and lots of action. The historical characters revolving around -all of them well portrayed and played- are the following ones : Francisco Pizarro : Francesc Orella , Hernando Pizarro : Federico Aguado , Almagro : Carlos Bardem and Pedro de Valdivia : Eduardo Noriega. There are several biographic remarks on Pedro Valdivia and about historical deeds based on the true story of the first woman "conqueror" who conquered a land that would become Chile, and helped to form the city of Santiago. It regards invasion, defeat and victory by the conquerors through several battles against native Indians . All of them are the background of this decent and well set historical fiction. Stars an enjoyable main and support cast as : Elena Rivero and Eduardo Noriega , both of whom give passional and adequate interpretations . The are well accompanied by a fine suppport cast , such as : Francesc Orella , Federico Aguado, Carlos Bardem , Ismael Martínez , Enrique Arce , Nicolás Zárate , Pedro Fontaine , Antonia Giesen , Francisco Ossa , Gastón Salgado, Benjamín Vicuña, among others .

Adding more historical observations about Inés Suárez and Pedro Valdivia, these are the following ones : He took part on the side of Hernando Pizarro in his struggle against Diego de Almagro and fought in the battle of Las Salinas in 1538 in which Almagro was defeated and captured. Afterwards Valdivia accompanied Hernando and Gonzalo Pizarro to conquer both the province of Collao and las Charcas in High Peru (currently Bolivia). As compensation for his help in conquering these lands, he was awarded a silver mine and became a wealthy man. Valdivia had married Marina Ortíz de Gaete in Spain. In late 1539, over the objections of Francisco Martínez and encouraged by some of his captains, Valdivia, using the intermediary services of a Mercedarian priest, requested official permission for Suárez to become a part of the group of 12 Spaniards he was leading to the South. Francisco Pizarro, in his letter to Valdivia (January 1540) granting permission for Suárez to accompany Valdivia as his domestic servant, addressed the following words to Suárez, "...as Valdivia tells me, the men are afraid to go on such a long trip and you very courageously put yourself in the face of that danger..."During the long and harrowing trip to the south, Suárez, in addition to caring for Valdivia and treating the sick and wounded, found water for them in the desert, and saved Valdivia when one of his rivals tried to undermine his enterprise and take his life. The natives, having already experienced the incursions of the Spaniards, (Diego de Almagro, 1535-1536) burned their crops and drove off their livestock, leaving nothing for Valdivia's band and the animals which accompanied them .In December 1540, eleven months after they left Cuzco, Valdivia and his band reached the valley of the Mapocho river, where Valdivia was to establish the capital of the territory. The valley was extensive and well populated with natives. Its soil was fertile and there was abundant fresh water. Two high hills provided defensive positions. Soon after their arrival, Valdivia tried to convince the natives of his good intentions, sending delegations bearing gifts for the caciques. The natives kept the gifts but, united under the leadership of Michimalonco, attacked the Spaniards and were at the point of overwhelming them. Suddenly, the natives threw down their weapons and fled. Captured Indians declared that they had seen a man, mounted on a white horse and carrying a naked sword, descend from the clouds and attack them. The Spaniards decided it was a miraculous appearance of Santo Iago (Saint James the Greater who had already been seen during the Reconquista at the battle of Clavijo) and, in thanks, named the new city Santiago del Nuevo Extremo.

The advantage of TV series set in on an actual historical timeline is that you know there will be a proper ending without the watering down and dragging out that plagues too many serialised stories. Inés del alma mía is a good example of such a story, based on true historical persons and events, even if the plot author has taken some liberties with the timelines for dramatic effect, condensing some events, leaving out some more, and moving forward others. The budget also limits what could be shown. Battle scenes are all shown with narrow focus, since it was not possible to field hundreds, let alone thousands, of extras in period attire.

Inés is portrayed as a thoroughly modern woman in a time when that would inevitably have led to her demise, but the special circumstances in which she comes to find herself, make it plausible that she could have prospered as she did. On the whole a quite palatable story that was worth telling and is worth watching.