Isaura: Slave Girl 

The difficulties faced by a young, sweet-hearted white slave targeted by the obsession of her lord in the Brazilian colonial time period.

Stars:

Rubens de Falco, Lucélia Santos, Gilberto Martinho

1 win.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Rubens de Falco	...	Leôncio Almeida 4 episodes, 1976-1977
Lucélia Santos	...	Isaura 4 episodes, 1976-1977
Gilberto Martinho	...	Comendador Almeida 4 episodes, 1976-1977
Markus Konká		4 episodes, 1976-1977
Norma Blum	...	Malvina Fontoura 3 episodes, 1976
Mário Cardoso	...	Henrique Fontoura 3 episodes, 1976
Beatriz Lyra	...	Ester Almeida 3 episodes, 1976
Léa Garcia	...	Rosa 3 episodes, 1976
Zeni Pereira	...	Januária 3 episodes, 1976
Dary Reis	...	Conselheiro Fontoura 3 episodes, 1976
Neusa Borges	...	Rita 3 episodes, 1976
Átila Iório	...	Miguel 2 episodes, 1976
Isaac Bardavid	...	Francisco 2 episodes, 1976
Haroldo de Oliveira	...	André 2 episodes, 1976
Maria das Graças	...	Santa 2 episodes, 1976
Nena Ainhoren	...	Lucíola 2 episodes, 1976
Edwin Luisi	...	Alvaro / ... 2 episodes, 1976-1977
Henriette Morineau	...	Madeleine Besançon 2 episodes, 1976-1977

Storyline

Daughter of a slave and a white man, Isaura lived in a farm, in Campos do Goitacazes, in the state or Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, being treated as a daughter by Ester, her owner, but as a slave by Commandeur Almeida, Ester's husband. Isaura's first love died in a arson, started by Leôncio, Commandeur Almeida's son and completely obsessed with her. After many misfortunes, Isaura meets Álvaro, an abolitionist.

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Plot Keywords:

whipping | female whipping | white slavery | based on novel | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance

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Details

Country:

Brazil

Language:

Portuguese

Release Date:

11 October 1976 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

La esclava Isaura

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rede Globo de Televisão

Technical Specs

Runtime:

26 min (40 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Tobias, Isaura's love interest, was created by Gilberto Braga and is not featured in the source novel. Braga did not want Isaura to spend a large amount of time alone.

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Connections

Referenced in Beyond Citizen Kane (1993)

User Reviews

My goodness! Where are the impressions now?

ESCRAVA ISAURA, except for some American sagas of the time (the mid-1980s), was one of those soap operas that absorbed almost all Polish society. Being showed on public television (no other existed) once a week, the series constituted the oasis of freshness in the desert of Russian propaganda. But that was not the only reason we still consider this soap opera a true social phenomenon.

Why "phenomenon" in Poland? The story of a poor girl who lived the life of a slave in Pre-abolitionist Brazil touched to tears, mesmerized, overwhelmed, simply taught how to live and how to deal with cruelty. People, including youngsters, families and elderly ladies watched the episodes with greatest attention and talked about it through weeks wondering and suggesting what would happen in next episodes. The emotional debates were heard in buses, trains and streets alike, young mothers named their baby daughters Isaura, crowds of fans flocked to meet the couple Lucelia Santos and Rubens De Falco during their "Polish tour" in May 1985...simply you could reasonably call it "madness" or more gently a "exaggeration". But no one would listen to this voice of reason. Those were the crazy days of the mid-1980s... However, when one of the televisions re-released the series twenty years later, a few people got interested to see what is so special about the story that absorbed the society in the 1980s. I was one of those people despite the fact I don't fancy such sagas whatsoever.

After seeing the fragments of the soap opera, I came into conclusion that there are three aspects that might have made the series so popular: genuine performances, nicely executed content and...its exotic origin. Brazil is still one of those most exotic countries for Poland and truly one of the places that is in particular interest. And ESCRAVA ISAURA gives us an insight into Brazil, the Brazil of cruel times of slavery but, at the same time, the one of traditional life untouched by commercialism.

As far as performances are concerned, the actress who gives a fresh, genuine acting uninfluenced by any fame is Lucelia Santos. She makes her character easy to sympathize with; more to say, a character to identify with. Ms Santos appeared in some other Brazilian soap operas later, but indeed the role of Isaura is the one of hers and for her: innocence, fresh youth and genuine suffering! Rubens De Falco does a splendid job as the villain Leoncio De Almeida who constitutes the idea of character development expressed in soap operas: not much psychology, no ambiguity...instead just simple representation of black and white nature of humans - either good or evil (in more colloquial language such "goodies" and "baddies"). That is why majority of people loved it since the characters were simple to evaluate. That is what makes us detest Leoncio the moment we see him. That refers also to supporting cast who do fine jobs in their roles and situations galore but whose characters are also unambiguous.

And, finally the content filled with plotting, love affairs, cruelty, jealousy, pardoning, variety of spiritual and mental states...that is something people know and experience daily, that is something that can be convincing and, at the same time, particularly involving.

You will perhaps think why my comment is more a reflection of why the series was so popular rather than about my own feelings concerning it. Here individual feelings are not that crucial since the personal whisper is bound to give way to common shout. ESCRAVA ISAURA, being a soap opera, is a special one, a phenomenon of popularity that has never appeared again to such extend.

And now...after all these years, naturally, the impressions are gone. Some people mock, some, perhaps, ignore; others recall it with a few sentimental tears. Nevertheless, boring and dated as it may seem, the "once" phenomenon cannot be denied...