This is the best novela ever made in my opinion. It's unlike any other novelas i saw. All the characters have both bad and good sides. There isn't any character put in negative light, nor any epitome of greed and prejudice like in most SOs (especially Mexican ones). Because of this moral balance, the plot and the relationships seem credible and appeal to you. It also leaves the impression that the mastermind actually spent serious time after coming up with such issues fertile for reflection. The love triangle between the mother, daughter and Edu is one of them. Pedro in-between the three women is another situation that stays interesting and unpredictable. The acting is excellent. I guess it has something to do with the nationality of the protagonists. The Brazilians are warm people and I always enjoy seeing and hearing them talking. The set is also a big plus. Rio de Janeiro and the ranch are both superb sites (although Rio has it's problems with poverty and violence). Over-all an excellent series. Don't mind the soap-opera tag, something like this has never been done before and i doubt something to best it is to be done soon.
6 Reviews
One of the best novelas ever!
fabapc21 February 2002
Very enjoyable with a moving plot that started out with a happy family. It involves cancer which moved audiences from around the globe that saw this sad instant that was beautifully filmed. Vera Fischer is in one of her very best roles. Her relationship with Reynaldo Giannichini is amazing and as her new love is found in Tony Ramos, the viewers know where it will up: in marriage. Typical plot but nonetheless, a fun and excentric novella to be enjoined by all.
Insufferably annoying
filipemanuelneto8 December 2017
For those who enjoy a soap opera, Brazil is fertile ground, as the overwhelming majority of general TV channels in the country transmit, on average, four soap operas daily. Invariably, much of this material eventually goes around the world, being bought and broadcast in other countries. One of the most permeable markets for Brazilian teledramaturgy is, of course, my country, due to its cultural and linguistic proximity. I watched "Laços de Família" twice: the first time it was broadcast in Portugal, around 2001, and most recently in 2015, when it was reprized.
The plot, which consists of a love triangle in which mother and daughter fall in love with the same man, was written by Manoel Carlos, who has the particular craze of calling "Helena" to almost all female heroines of the soap operas he writes. In fact, his soap operas share so many points in common that we even feel we are constantly watching the same story, chewed to look different without, however, being truly: the heroine always has the same name, almost everything happens in Rio de Janeiro, especially in the neighborhood of Leblon, almost always has a very rich family in the center of the plot and almost always there is some doctor having an important role. I definitely do not like his soap operas.
To make matters worse, this soap opera is so monotonous, so boring, so melodramatic and lame that it becomes totally uninteresting. I used to watch because there was nothing better going on TV, or because they were going to broadcast something good after the soap opera ended, so I kept hoping it would end, but it was a torment.
The plot, which consists of a love triangle in which mother and daughter fall in love with the same man, was written by Manoel Carlos, who has the particular craze of calling "Helena" to almost all female heroines of the soap operas he writes. In fact, his soap operas share so many points in common that we even feel we are constantly watching the same story, chewed to look different without, however, being truly: the heroine always has the same name, almost everything happens in Rio de Janeiro, especially in the neighborhood of Leblon, almost always has a very rich family in the center of the plot and almost always there is some doctor having an important role. I definitely do not like his soap operas.
To make matters worse, this soap opera is so monotonous, so boring, so melodramatic and lame that it becomes totally uninteresting. I used to watch because there was nothing better going on TV, or because they were going to broadcast something good after the soap opera ended, so I kept hoping it would end, but it was a torment.
Not of the best, but involves
dzero9 February 2001
The classic history of what bonds mother and daughter with some polemical subjects involved as prostitution, leukemia being the main ones. Stretched (as everything that makes success in Globo TV), it had lost the serious stuff to become more emotional. All for more audience and all had worked just fine. Even with a so so cast and with a "please-make-me-cry" history, this brazilian soap opera will certainly gain ground in other countries with the beautiful landscape of the (unfortunately violent) Rio de Janeiro.
hilarious...
fabapc28 October 2000
Great charming Brazilian novella with an extremely enjoinable pace. The actors are very good and make the novella more interesting. A loveable plot filled with jokes and characters which will be unforgettable. Iris is the most hateful character however her half sister Helena is adorable and is extremely beautiful woman.
Entertaining
tacampos26 January 2001
This charming Brazilian soap opera reveals the lives of ordinary people dealing with common issues in a modern way, with great actors and catching plot, focusing the struggle of a mother to save her daughter´s life, no matter what it costs, even losing the great love of her life.
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