La Otra (2002)

Carlota is the illegitimate daughter of Bernarda and a millionaire named Leopoldo who left a fortune to Carlota and her half-sister Eugenia. Bernarda tries to keep her daughters from marrying so that she can continue to live off their inheritance. In spite of this Carlota marries Dr. Alvaro Ibanez while Eugenia is pregnant with the child of Leopoldo's deranged son Roman. Eugenia dies in childbirth but Bernarda convinces Alvaro that it was Carlota who died. Devastated he moves to the country to live with his father where he meets Cordelia identical in appearance to Carlota but not in personality. Social-climbing Cordelia takes advantage of Alvaro's grief and marries him for his wealth and position. Little does she know however that Carlota is not only very much alive but that she wants her husband back!Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: LATIN/TELENOVELA Rating: PG UPC: 000799474921 Manufacturer No: 22798 Product Description

Great soap opera, poor editing

First of all I want to say that this is my favorite soap opera of all time. The other two that I love are Angela and Apuesta por un amor. This was a very clever story, full of surprises and discovery. I agree this was Juan Soler's best leading role. Yadhira Carrillo was amazing. She gave a extraordinary personal touch to her two characters, and could at the same time show the humanity of Carlota even when she was taking Cordelia's place. Jacqueline Andere was one of the smartest villains I have ever seen in a telenovela.

The problem with the DVD is the editing. They focus mostly in the story of Alvaro and Carlota and cut off many of the secondary character stories. There was not much of the romance of Bernarda and Roman, the story of Cordelia's family was totally deleted, when Carlota became Cordelia they were many scenes in which you could have been caught, for example the dog scene (Cordelia did not like dogs), the scene when Carlota is drowning (Cordelia could swim). These were the funny scenes of the story and they are gone. Also, the DVD does not cover Regina's disease, and does not show when she dies. For people that never watched the show it will be confusing to hear some things when they did not have the proper background to understand. And finally, the DVD did not show Bernarda's ending which I think was a big mistake. The ending is disturbing, because after all that she did, she escapes and in the last scene she is shown in the beach flirting with young guys.

The soap opera is the best, the DVD did not do a good job. I still recommend it. July 26, 2008

**spoiler alert** Mexican Gothic Telenovela

Overall, I thought that this telenovela was well done, the plot was expertly executed, and Juan Soler and Yadhira Carrillo did a fantastic job in their respective roles.
Like a previous customer said, Yadhira Carrillo has that uncanny ability to cry overflowing tears at the snap of a finger. She played Carlota very realistically, conveying to the viewers the suffering and the depression the character felt. In portraying Cordelia she switched gears and played a conniving and superficial character, much the opposite of the sweet and docile Carlota. As always Jacqueline Andere played marvelously as a villain, cold-hearted mother and killer, as well as Sergio Sendel as another villain who uses his charms to lure innocent people for his own perverted use. Juan Soler did an outstanding job, especially with those scenes when the character of Alvaro was quite confused between Carlota and Cordelia. I believed that he was going to go crazy because he didn't know what was really happening, who died and who was still alive.
Now...here comes the spoilers...so an alert here for those that haven't watched it:
Unfortunately I didn't get to watch "La Otra" in its entirety on Univision, and this was the very first time I watched it. So, I knew it was going to be very much edited to have this telenovela on 3 DVDs. That being said, although I did follow the storyline, and knew what was happening, I felt that there were some subplots and characters that were missing. Although I must say that I googled "La Otra", and read some well-written summaries, and knew that there were some parts missing. But, nonetheless, here are some things that stood out for me:
1) I knew that in some way Roman Guillen (Carlota's half-brother) would be involved with Bernarda (Carlota's mean-spirited mother). This is very obvious if you look on the back cover of the DVD. I know Roman, as Raul, uses Bernarda to exact revenge for stealing his father's inheritance. But this subplot is totally taken out of this version. So, exactly I don't know what happens.
2) Who is Julieta? Was she another innocent woman that Roman used to exact revenge? And why does Carlota tell her that she's like a sister to her? I know that Bernarda hit her with the car, and caused Julieta to lose her baby, at least that's what Roman accuses Bernarda before she kills him at the side of the road. So Julieta's story doesn't even appear here, not until the end.
3) Although they talk about Eugenia's son Librado, they don't show him at all, I don't know if he really appeared on the telenovela; also, the fact that Santos married Eugenia to give her baby a name is totally taken out of the story. It's only mentioned, but we are never given a full explanation.
4) Also, we see in flashbacks that Cordelia caused Alvaro's mother, Lupita, to have a heart attack and die, but we never really meet her on the story. Just see her in two scenes.
**end of possible spoilers**
There are many other little questions that really don't matter to be put in here, but those are four big ones. Also, I titled this review "Mexican Gothic telenovela" because that is what I felt I was watching. Even if there weren't any ghosts, or it wasn't set in dark places or had any supernatural effect, it still conveyed that "Gothic" element. Let me explain: with the house in Queretaro, which is an old colonial city in central Mexico, it's an old house, evidently from colonial times; the inside is dark, because of it's wooden dark-panneled walls, old-fashioned furniture. It didn't seem like a house set in the 21st century. This is also the case in La Santisima, Alvaro's family hacienda: old-fashioned 19th century furniture (or so it seems), dark wood walls, and the dark bungalow, with its airy and flowy bedroom veils where it seemed sometimes a ghost may appear. Oh, and let's not forget the Hitchcock-like haunting theme music throughout, with it's dark and somber cello and spine-tingling violin. Chopin's romantic piano music also lends to this "Gothic" theme, very beautiful but very haunting, almost melancholy and--sometimes--outright depressing. I'm not sure if this was the case in its original version, but boy this was quite obvious in this version. I have a little "complaint" about this too. Most if not all telenovelas, even if it's a serious plot-driven one, usually has a slice of comic relief to break the seriousness of a story. Although I may totally wrong because this was edited out, I didn't see any comic relief at all. It was just haunting, dark and somber all throughout. A few funny characters or comic scenes would've helped! For example, if you watched "Amarte Es Mi Pecado" (another Yadhira Carrillo telenovela) it was also a serious-driven telenovela, but it had its comic relief through the likes of Silvia Pasquel playing a very funny villainess and Casilda a very funny character with its hideous teeth; let's not forget Casilda's aunt and her strange characteristic of wearing different wigs. That was very much a comic relief, and it gave us a break from the main plot. But I didn't see this in "La Otra", unless there were funny characters and scenes in its original version that may have been edited out completely from the DVD version. If this is the case, then shame to those who edited it, it may have made this DVD version a lot better if they included some comic relief. All in all, I thought this was a wonderful telenovela, very realistic, although I can't imagine having another person being a double of me in spite of not being twins. I think that was the only unrealistic thing about it, but very much a central theme to this novela. The settings were beautiful, the acting was very real, the villains were devilishly good, and that music...God, that music really made this telenovela that much atmospheric, it made me feel melancholic, and it just gave me the chills just listening to it. The use of Chopin's work is also very well done. The only thing I have against it is the editing of important subplots and characters and the lack of comic relief and characters. But, I still highly recommend this one, one of the many very well done Mexican telenovelas! June 29, 2008

a great love story, love it, love it!

when i saw this on the list of soaps, i had to buy it, she is fabulous.yadira carillo, she can cry on the drop of a hat, and always plays a great sufferer. but this story is even better than being just a love story, there is also the other plot with twins, which she plays both. and does well, because you love her as mean and romantic. and her chemistry with juan soler as the love interest is great as well. the story is good. you see one part with the good girl, then you see the mean sneaky girl who loves riches and power, and by any means necessary to get it. she plays it well. then there is her partner in crime sergio sendel who is fabulous as well. when the good girl is torn apart from her love, the story goes through many twists and turns and the ride is wonderful. her character is great, the story too, and the soap is a must buy. June 16, 2008

Too much editing

This is a telenovela that has a great plot with a wonderful exploration of a very tense mother-daughter relationship. The novela delves into the impact of emotional abuse and shows its long lasting effects. BUT this novela is cut down to a bare minimum especially towards the end where the editor leaves the viewer with lots of questions. The producers of telenovelas should really just release the videos with no editing or minimal editing since the magic of the telenovela is in the details and in the secondary plots. So great plot but as a DVD I do not recommend it highly. Try Azul Tequila which is uncut and fabulous. We need more telenovelas like Azul Tequila. May 27, 2008

very good product

i have to say that this product was a surprise to me because the editing was perfect and i got in excellent condition. May 22, 2008

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