''Héroes'' (full name: ''Héroes, la gloria tiene su precio'', "''Heroes, glory has its price''" in Spanish) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

TV miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

produced by Canal 13 in 2007. ''Héroes'' has 6 episodes. Each one of them relates the history of one of the principal figures of the

Chilean history The territory of Chile has been populated since at least 3000 BC. By the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors began to colonize the region of present-day Chile, and the territory was a colony between 1540 and 1818, when it gained independence from ...

in the 19th century:

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; August 20, 1778 – October 24, 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque-Spanish and Irish ancestry. Alth ...

José Miguel Carrera José Miguel Carrera Verdugo (; October 15, 1785 – September 4, 1821) was a Chilean general, formerly Spanish military, member of the prominent Carrera family, and considered one of the founders of independent Chile. Carrera was the most impo ...

, Manuel Rodríguez,

Diego Portales Diego José Pedro Víctor Portales y Palazuelos (; June 16, 1793 – June 6, 1837) was a Chilean statesman and entrepreneur. As a minister of president José Joaquín Prieto's government, he played a pivotal role in shaping the state and po ...

José Manuel Balmaceda José Manuel Emiliano Balmaceda Fernández (; July 19, 1840 – September 19, 1891) served as the 10th President of Chile from September 18, 1886, to August 29, 1891. Balmaceda was part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile. While he was ...

and

Arturo Prat Agustín Arturo Prat Chacón (; April 3, 1848 – May 21, 1879) was a Chilean lawyer and navy officer. He was killed in the Battle of Iquique, during the War of the Pacific. During his career, Prat had taken part in several naval engagements, i ...

. The miniseries is one of the most ambitious project of Canal 13 for the commemoration of the bicentenary of the independence of Chile, in 2010. The miniseries has the support of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

and the

Chilean Army The Chilean Army ( es, Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade. In recent years, and ...

Episodes

"O'Higgins, vivir para merecer su nombre"

:''"O'Higgins, Live to Deserve his Name"'' :Hero:

:Released: March 26, 2007 The film is set during 1817 to 1823, on the events of the

Patria Nueva Patria Nueva (''New Fatherland'') was a period in the history of Chile that began with the victory of Ejército de los Andes in the Battle of Chacabuco on 12 February 1817 and ended with the resignation of Bernardo O'Higgins as Supreme Director ...

, but it has some flashbacks when O'Higgins was a kid (years unrevealed) and when he was learning who his father (

Ambrosio O'Higgins Ambrosio Bernardo O'Higgins y O'Higgins, 1st Marquess of Osorno (c. 1720 – 19 March 1801) born Ambrose Bernard O'Higgins (''Ambrós Bearnárd Ó hUiginn'', in Irish), was an Irish-Spanish colonial administrator and a member of the O'Higgins fa ...

) was. Its main plot surrounds the events of his governments, and the changes on his popularity among the people. In this film, Bernardo O'Higgins is portrayed by the actor Julio Milostich, and gives an "emotional" side to the hero, to explain why he acceded to kill the Carrera brothers and Manuel Rodriguez. Other co-stars are Daniela Jaccques as Rosario Puga, Elsa Poblete as Isabel Riquelme, Hector Noguera as Ambrosio O'Higgins, Diego Muñoz as José Antonio Pérez Cotapos, Pedro Vicuña as General De La Cruz, Daniel Muñoz as

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...

, and Benjamín Vicuña as Manuel Rodríguez.

"Carrera, el príncipe de los caminos"

:''Carrera, the Prince of the Roads'' :Hero:

:Released: April 30, 2007 The film is set during 1796 (just a brief scene in which Carrera is a young boy) to 1821. When José Miguel is having his worst moments, he remembers a memory from his youth: a scorpion trying to escape from fire. Its main plot surrounds Carrera's journey back to Chile and the revenge he has for O'Higgins. Here, José Miguel Carrera is portrayed by a new young actor, Diego Casanueva, who makes a very good interpretation to the character, especially his moments in which he is more revengeful. Other co-stars are Javiera Díaz de Valdés as Mercedes Fontecilla, Sebastián Layseca as José María Benavente, Daniel Muñoz as José de San Martín, Benjamín Vicuña as Manuel Rodríguez, Julio Milostich as Bernardo O´Higgins, Alfredo Allende as Luis Carrera, and Gabriel Sepúlveda as Juan José Carrera.

"Rodríguez, hijo de la rebeldía"

:''"Rodriguez, Son of the Rebelliousness"'' :Hero: Manuel Rodríguez :Released: June 24, 2007 The film is set during 1808 to 1818, especially highlighting the period of the

Reconquista The ' ( Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the N ...

and having as its main plot surrounding Rodriguez's time as a spy. Additionally, the film is narrated by Rodriguez's father, Carlos Rodriguez. This is the third film and the final one of the independency trilogy. Manuel Rodriguez is portrayed by Benjamín Vicuña, and though it is the third time he appears in an ''Héroes'' film, now he has a much larger role. Other co-stars are María Elena Swett as Francisca de Paula Segura y Ruiz, Alejandro Trejo as Carlos Rodriguez, Carmen Disa Gutiérrez as Loreto Erdoíza, Erto Pantoja as Miguel Neira, Mariana Loyola as Ana, Julio Milostich as Bernardo O'Higgins and Diego Casanueva as José Miguel Carrera.

"Portales, la fuerza de los hechos"

:''"Portales, the force of the Facts"'' :Hero:

:Released: September 2, 2007 The film is set only in 1837, when Diego Portales is arrested along with Necochea. Throughout the movie, there are several flashbacks showing Portales's father's arrest, his relationship with his mother, the deaths of his wife and daughters, and his rise to power. Another theme in the movie is religion and the tendency that Portales has to always blame God for the deaths of his loved ones. Diego Portales here is portrayed by the actor Carlos Concha, who perfectly reflects both of the hero's sides. He portrays his kind side when he is joking with Necochea or with his family. And his more ruthless side is when his family is already dead. Other co-stars are Luis Gnecco as Necochea, Paola Giannini as Chepita, Paulina García as María Encarnación, Ingrid Isenee as Constanza, Marcial Edwards as José Portales, Pablo Schwarz as Santiago Florín and

Pablo Krögh Pablo Willy Krögh Baraona (21 February 1963 – 2 September 2013) was a Chilean film, theater, television and voice actor. His credits included the Chilean films ''Machuca'' in 2004 and the 2009 dramatic film, ''Dawson Isla 10'', in which he p ...

as Viadurre.

"Balmaceda"

:Hero:

:Released: September 30, 2007 The only film to feature a President of Chile, and the Chilean Civil War of 1891.

"Prat, Espada de honor"

:"Prat, sword of honor" :Hero:

:Released: May 24 and 31, 2009 Released in honor of the 130th anniversary of the

Battle of Iquique The Battle of Iquique was a naval engagement that occurred between a Chilean corvette under the command of Arturo Prat Chacón and a Peruvian ironclad under Miguel Grau Seminario on 21 May 1879, during the naval stage of the War of the Pacif ...

that made him Chile's great national naval hero of the

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...

(thus making it also the only episode from this great and important part of the nation's history). Even through it was made very late in 2008, this two-part film focuses on Arturo Prat's life and the battle that made him a hero for the nation, at his life's cost. Andres Waas stars as the Chilean naval hero.

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heroes Films based on military novels 2007 Chilean television series debuts 2009 Chilean television series endings 2000s Chilean television series 2000s television miniseries Chilean television miniseries Cultural depictions of José de San Martín