Reviews on series Velvet (3)

I rarely write reviews, and writing this one suggests that I was really disappointed. Just trying to watch this series. Expectations were quite high because: firstly, I really like TV series about the first half of the XX century; secondly, this series is also about the fashion of the time, which I am a fan of; thirdly, I used to think very highly of Spanish TV series. In recent years, my tastes have changed or... But the 7.7 rating for this series is unnecessarily overstated in my opinion. Apart from the less beautiful pictures and music of that time, there is nothing to catch there.
The timeline of the series is huge and considering that it stretches for four seasons...Mummy! I personally had two episodes. Although I began to doubt the quality of this product by the end of the first, I still gave it a chance and watched the second.
The plot itself is quite banal. This is another story about Cinderella, of course, everything is against lovers in one way or another, but they miraculously reunite and their love must overcome all obstacles. The typography of the main character is not mine at all, which of course did not dispose to watch it further. A girl with a dreary face and deer eyes, she is meek, while in the moments when she should support her beloved, she very cliched begins to hysteria and with pressure to declare that he should have told her about the problems. So much support, isn't it? All relationships are very cardboard, and from the love of the main characters, the sugar level rises so much that it is dangerous to health. I watched the second series already in the background (I remind you, the timekeeping there is a large series of more than an hour) doing my own business. And that finally put an end to this series! Because if you don't look at the picture - the dialogue is absolutely terrible, the plot is not exciting and everything is very stretched.

I don't mind beautiful love stories, but I couldn't digest this sweet cotton candy. Soap opera in its classical sense. Now removed more than enough "soap" quality is many times better.

I will not tell you about the story, everything is written in the abstract. I want to describe how I feel about watching. In the beginning, the series seemed rather boring. I watched the background, but suddenly the plot began to drag on. The series gained momentum gradually, and became the most interesting by the third season. And, despite the fact that the final was predictable, it was still interesting to watch.
What I remember the most:

Video sequence. Beautiful outfits from the '60s. Beautiful people in these outfits. Of course, ordinary seamstresses could not dress in such dresses, but you do not pay much attention to this, because all these colors are just pleasant to look at, the eye is happy. Beautiful actors, especially playing the main roles, although they look a little older than their serial characters.
Magnificent play of Ascier Echeandia as fashion designer Raoul de la Riva. He's great! He created such a vivid memorable image of an exalted creative personality, and without any excesses. Scenes with his participation were always desirable for me. And his hero is not only a talented fashion designer, but also a man of great soul.
Not immediately, but gradually revealed the image of the closest friend of the main character – Rita.
At first I thought she was stupid, but gradually the actress Cecilia Fryr created a really interesting image out of this stupid, unsympathetic girl. Her slightly rude jokes brought a smile and animated the series.
I was glad that my friends were really friends. Usually in TV shows, the standard cliché is that friends are plotting some tricks behind the backs of the heroes. But that didn't happen in this series.

I really enjoyed this series. There are no serious problems, it is easy to watch, just relax. And there is a pleasant aftertaste.

8 out of 10

When a familiar serial maniac wrote that he had found the perfect series for me, from which it would be impossible to break away, I did not believe it. Naive Chukchi girl. After all, it was the Velvet Gallery, and there are Spanish passions, love, suffering, intrigue, family ties - in general, everything I love. And the unbearably beautiful Madrid of the late fifties, many beautiful dresses. Men wear impeccable dark suits, women - lush skirts to the knee, and everyone is constantly talking about fashion, claiming that "Dior is outdated" and "Balenciaga is a genius."
So, in 1958, in the heart of Madrid, there is a building occupied by the Velvet Gallery, a very large and very expensive fashion store with its own workshop, with shows of new models twice a year and other things. Don Rafael Marquez, a fashion conservative, rules here. After his tragic death, the company goes to his son Alberto, who is forced to take risks to save the family business. In addition, other members of the Marquez family also have their own views of the Velvet Gallery, and intrigue is weaved, and everyone is ready to go to head for power in this small empire.
Among the employees of the Gallery there are also passions: here they fall in love, separate, quarrel, reconcile, dismiss and return to work sellers, messengers and seamstresses, all under the strict supervision of the manager Don Emilio and the head of the sewing workshop Dona Blanca.
Everyone in the gallery has their own secrets. At first glance, each secret concerns only the one who keeps it, but in fact the Gallery is one big family, and the secret life of one family member affects the interests of all.
The most important thing in the Velvet Gallery is love. Here love and hate passionately and passionately. The central love story is the story of the son of shop owner Don Alberto Marquez and seamstress Anna Rivera. They fell in love with each other as children, and can neither be together nor part. In general, drama, drama, drama!
The series, of course, has references to the ancestor of all stories about large shops and their staff - the novel "Lady's happiness" E. Zola. In the plot, it is also similar to the already closed "Paradis" - British variations on the theme of "Lady's happiness". But the same plot (poor girl - rich man - rich girl) in the Velvet Gallery acquires "flesh and passion." There are people here, not mannequins dressed in fine costumes. (I hope with this phrase I was able to fully express my dislike for the series Paradise, similar to its literary predecessor Ladies' Happiness, like a nail at a funeral service.)
Even if you are an opponent of excessive passions, watch the first episode at least for aesthetic reasons. Firstly, there are beautifully placed color accents, everything revolves around a dress of wine-red color. Secondly, the ingeniously twisted intrigue: the frames of the prologue at the end of the series are repeated again, and the viewer watches the same thing twice, the first time understanding nothing, the second time fully realizing the meaning of each look and each spoken word.
In general, if you are not indifferent to fashion, to Spain and want to see great love at least on the screen – this is for you.
If you are not interested in all this, just look at the main male actor – Miguel Angel Silvestre. Or Paulo Echevarria, who played Anna.