"El extraño Retorno de Diana Salazar" (1988) TV series

Directors:

Carlos Téllez
Gabriel Vázquez Bulman

Writer:

Carlos Olmos (story)

Seasons:

1

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Plot:

Diana Salazar is a woman who has been plagued all of her life with the ability to move things with her mind...

Plot Keywords:

Soap | Telekinesis | Reincarnation

Cast

Rafael Baledón

...

Ernesto Santelmo (unknown episodes, 1988-1989)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Filming Locations:

Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico

Company:

Televisa S.A. de C.V.

Trivia:

Lucía Méndez, who played the protagonist Diana Salazar on the series, also sang the show's theme song.

Greatest telenovela ever produced

"El Extraño Retorno de Diana Salazar" was perhaps one of the most innovative and captivating telenovelas made. Over the years, the telenovela medium, although immensely popular, has become stale and repetitive. The plots have become formulaic, the acting anything but quality, and the dialogue completely unimpressive. "El Extraño Retorno" broke through the mediocrity that had enveloped the telenovela medium with incredible performances, most notably those of Alma Muriel and Carlos Cámara, but most of all through its daring, intelligent, and magnificent plot. A story about reincarnation could've been carried out stupidly, but it was written beautifully and produced with class, and it still retained the elements that attract millions of Latin Americans to telenovelas: romance. The complexity and intricacy of the plot is incredible. On one hand, you have poor Diana, who is engaged to a man she thinks she loves, but who is having odd dreams about herself and another man in 16th century Mexico. As she begins to discover that this isn't a dream, the man from what she thought was a dream enters her life in the form of Argentinian computer engineer Mario Villareal. On another hand, you have several other storyline arcs that solidify this usual love triangle: her psychiatrist was her rival for Mario Villareal's affections in the 16th century and wants him back in the present; Diana's social-climbing mother Delfina cruelly sabotages her relationship with Mario in favor of Omar, her fiancé; criminal Luther Henrich attempts to steal Mario's computer program using Diana's mental abilities, and her mother Delfina's will to sell her daughter to the highest bidder. All of these elements blend into a magnificent storyline that captivated the entire Latin American continent from 1988-1989. Unfortunately, this example of skillful writing and acting did not start a fire. After "El Extraño Retorno" ended, telenovelas sank back into their monotonous pattern. Why this show's success was not matched by other writers remains a mystery. But perhaps that is why it still retains its uniqueness and its magic ten years after it last aired.