Escrava Isaura (1976-1977)

At the time, this telenovela was watched en masse worldwide, if necessary dubbed in Russian or Chinese. Millions of people shed a tear. Also in Belgium, "Slavin Isaura" and later Sinhá Moça were widely viewed until the mid-90s. Fortunately, that was with subtitles, so that those nasal sounds of Portuguese were preserved.

The 1865 novel by Bernardo Guimarães was the Brazilian answer to Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was a protest against slavery, which would not be abolished until two decades later. There are scenes where slaves are flogged or try to escape. Opposite are the abolitionists. There was also a hierarchy among the slaves. House slaves had it less bad than the land slaves who had to work themselves to death on the sugar cane plantation. Isaura received preferential treatment. Her lighter complexion immediately raises the question of who her biological father is.

Lead actress Lucélia Santos had a disarming smile and an endearing look. With that wooden cross around her neck, she looked innocent as a lamb. Rubens de Falco, on the other hand, could look terribly vicious and more of a wolf. He played Leôncio, the hard-hearted son of the landowner. Their confrontations and romantic intrigue held the attention. Zeni Pereira has a nice side role as the obese cook. With exactly a hundred episodes, you're just as sweet. There are negatives: it is sentimental at times and there are too many scenes of people talking in a room. The music creates the right atmosphere, with a bossa nova guitar and a soft flute. It's a piece of TV history that deserves to be remembered.

Translated from Dutch · View original