Dona Barbara

The archetype of the ranchera dominatrix is surprisingly common in Latin American films and TV.  Long before Latin Beauties in High Heels (if you know, you know) mainstream screens have been regularly graced by the dressed-for-riding figure of the rich and cruel lady landowner.

They could have been influenced by the disturbing tales of the real life La Quintrala (who's been the subject of at least 3 movies and a Telenovela).  In any event, these mounted, whip-wielding terrors have been the bane of servants, serfs and romantic rivals for decades.  On this blog we've seen her in a Santo movie and of course in the guise of the scenery chewing Abigail in Alma Indomable.

Dona Barbara is another oft-filmed variation of the type. There have been 2 feature films and a fourth TV show was just announced. Dona Barbara (1943) was the first adaptation of the well regarded novel from 1929.  By later standards she's quite restrained. But the scene where she threatens her servant with a kicking while he's removing her spurs is as nice as any I've seen.


http://bruceff.com/test/donabarbara1943edit.avi



This last bit is an illustration of how I benefit from running this blog. As I was doing the research for this post I discovered the wonderful news that Telemundo has announced a new Telenovela that should air later this year.



These are two stills from it (BTW-in the 81 second trailer I counted 3 different pairs of boots).