Vale Tudo

Very few people from English speaking countries will have the chance to see this masterpiece of television production. Brazilian television has long time ago, found the way to dignify the soap opera production to the extent that almost anyone can enjoy viewing them, thanks to its excellence from both the technical and the intellectual points of view.

Vale Tudo is one landmark of such trend. The struggle to survive of Raquel (played Regina Duarte in such a wonderful way that you can't help but to fall in love with her) and her lover Ivan (Antonio Fagundes), a middle class moral sound couple in Sao Paulo at the late 80's, deeply sunk in a moral and economic crisis, is enhanced by rich and beautiful dialogue and great image for video. Their worst enemy, besides the lack of money, is Maria de Fatima, Raquel's daughter, brilliantly played by Gloria Pires, a reckless teenager decided to do whatever it takes to be rich, which is what she equals to success. As you can see this is nothing but the archetypical latin soap plot. It is the actors, the script and the meticulous production what makes Vale Tudo such a great work.

Some characters mentioning Odette Roittman (Beatriz Segal) is one of the most classy villians ever, her sister Celina (Nathalia Timberg)the perfect alter ego to Odette, Helininha (Renata Sorrah) and most of the rest of the cast made this series an unforgetable experience. Kudos to Rede O Globo and to the whole cast of Vale Tudo, so far Vale Tudo is the ultimate TV series.

I have seen it and I also loved it. It has all the plot lines that make this gender so appealing to the public: romance, drama, mystery, etc. It has an intense rhythm and a lot of surprises and turn overs in the plot. It this one of the best soap operas ever made in Brasil. It's an x-ray and a portrait of the Brazilian way of life. The rich that want to be richer, the poor that want to be a little bit rich. Everything is in there, in a well constructed narrative with brilliant characters. Well done for the writers. 15 years after it continues to be a masterpiece. It's talkatively, certainly Gilberto Braga's best work. It's one of the highest success in Brazilian TV history.

One of the best TV Brazillian series. I don't consider it a "soap opera" as we understand it. Brazillian soap operas were exceptional TV series not compare with any soap opera in Latin America. Everything was good: script, direction, performances, photography, MUSIC!!!! I' d like to get it in DVD or VHS formats, because I know I would enjoy again to watch it. I live in the U.S. and I think it is so sad that Americans don't have access to Brazillian production. I' d like to get recommendations about new Brazillian series and movies. I am sure that they continue producing quality TV series. If you have the opportunity to watch it , don't hesitate to do it.

Real masterpiece! Despite it was filmed in 1988, it's still going fresh and captures you from the first episode. The main asset, of course, is dona Odete Almeida Roitman - officially the most famous villain in the history of Brazilian soap operas, brilliant work of Beatriz Segall. Some of her expressions I know by heart - "Eu gosto do Brasil, é uma beleza, mas só de longe, no cartão postal! Essa terra aquí não tem jeito meu bem, esse povo não vai pra frente... Povo preguiçoso, que so se fala em crise..." (I like Brazil, it's beautiful, but only from a distance, on a postcard! This country is a dead-end, these people don't want to go forward. Lazy people, who only talk about the crisis"

The term "soap-opera" really don't fit on the Brazilian television series, not telling that they're considered series, but they have something more than simple soap-operas, they show the truth to everyone, the truth that is not hidden, but although, not commented. Vale Tudo isn't behind, it showed the reality everybody was living, the money difficulties, the hard times, the lies and the corruption of the people nowadays. Today, Vale Tudo is considered one of the best soap-operas in Brasil, a brilliant piece of the television culture. It would be so nice if the whole world could watch this, I'm sure it would be very appreciated by everyone.