Havana Cuba. – There have been many Brazilian telenovelas that have fascinated the Cuban audience, from Mrs. Bella, Anything goes either The slave Isaurauntil Roque Santeiro, women of sand, The King of Cattle and i hate you my lovemostly produced by the entertainment giant TV Globo.
The list of similar products that have landed on the Cuban screen is endless, and with them several characters ―María de Fátima (Gloria Pires), Helena Roitman (Renata Sorrah), Senorito Malta (Lima Duarte), Roque Santeiro (José Wilker), María Do Carmo (Suzana Vieira), Nonó Correia (Ary Fontoura)― have been etched in the memory of viewers.
Most of those faces were repeated throughout the 1990s in primetime for the soap opera, which Cubans expected punctually. Twisted plots, excellent performances and villains capable of going to the last consequences, were the favorite hooks for a population that was bored and lived exhausted under the pressure of the so-called Special Period.
When a soap opera ended, in the previews of the next one, Cubans looked for a familiar face, as a guarantee that the product would be good. But in 2003, a Brazilian series was broadcast during the telenovela’s schedule. His title was seven women and the Cubans received it with the vote of confidence that Brazilian products are always granted around here; although perhaps with little enthusiasm because there were no known actors in the ads. However, from the first chapters, the new proposal showed that it would be one of the best ever seen by the public on the Island.
Based on the historical novel The house of the seven womenby the Brazilian writer Leticia Wierchowski, directed by the experienced Jayme Monjardim (Roque Santeiro, girl gonzaga, brazilian watercolor) and broadcast by TV Globo, the series recounts the war for the independence of Rio Grande do Sul, the macro universe in which the individual stories of seven women who care for and defend the family farm are interspersed, while the men fight in the contest.
The usual stories of love and spite are mixed with domestic conflicts, racial and class prejudices, as well as characters with an extraordinary nobility of character, better worked, from a psychological point of view, than the heroes and villains of ordinary soap operas. Among the great merits of the work are the talented cast, the impressive photography that captures the majesty of rural Brazil, and a beautiful soundtrack.
Magical realism, so typical of Latin American narrative, is expressed in the clairvoyance of Manuela Ferreira (Camila Morgado), whose visions embroider the development of the plot for the viewer. The protagonist and narrator, the young woman is moved by her courage, generosity, and loyalty, and by her unconditional love for Giuseppe Garibaldi (Thiago Lacerda), the Italian warlord she anticipates in her dreams and whom she accompanies in the bloodiest of war.
It is also expressed in the madness of Rosario (Mariana Ximenes), who chases the ghost of her lover, an enemy soldier killed in combat, through the nooks and crannies of the ranch; and in the malevolent pact between Bento Manuel (Luis Melo) and a forest spirit, in exchange for the love of Caetana (Eliane Giardini), who would never be his because no spell can break a great love.
The agility with which the stories are interwoven maintained the interest of the viewers during the 48 chapters that the series lasted, and although certain shortcomings came to light in the battle scenes, seven women It has been, among the Brazilian historical series and novels broadcast in Cuba, one of the best achieved.
