Chamas da Vida
Encyclopedia
Chamas da Vida is a Brazil
ian telenovela
produced by Rede Record
. It premiered on July 8, 2008 and aired until April 28, 2009, at 9:45 p.m. schedule. Created by Cristianne Fridman, the telenovela is written by her in collaboration with Paula Richard, Renata Dias Gomes, Camilo Pellegrini and Nélio Abbade. It is directed by Edgard Miranda, Roberto Bomtempo and Rudi Lagemann.
which lives in the neighborhood of Tinguá, in the border of Rio de Janeiro
and Nova Iguaçu
municipalities. After the sudden death of his parents, Pedro became responsible for the custody of his three brothers: Viviane, Rafael and trouble-maker Antônio, who works on GG ("Gelado-e-Gostoso", which is Portuguese for "Icy-and-Delicious"), a fictional ice cream
factory located in Tinguá. At nights, Antônio and his gang ("Gangue do Ferro-Velho", Portuguese for "The Junkyard Gang") practices acts of vandalism
on the neighborhood, what makes his relationship with Pedro progressively estranged. Pedro dates Ivonete, twin sister of Lieutenant Wallace, Pedro's best friend since childhood.
Carolina is the only child of Walter and Arlete, founders of GG. She lives on the upper class neighborhood of Urca
and manages her own video production company. She dates Tomás for three years. She is about to marry him, without suspecting that all he wants is to take control of GG. Tomás is son of manipulative Vilma, co-founder of GG, which wants them to get marry for her to control GG once again. Her late husband João co-founded GG with Walter, Arlete and her, but Walter dissolved the partnership after João was accused of corruption, taking control of all the factory shares himself.
Pedro and Carolina where friends at childhood, but lost personal contact after they became adults. After Antônio set fire on a fraternization of GG workers, they meet once again. They feel a sudden attraction for each other, what causes instantaneous jealousy on Tomás. A security worker delates Antônio, which loses his job, compromising even more the troubled relationship with his brother. Carolina was filming the fraternization and returns at the factory at the same night to pick up her camera. She sees herself trapped when somebody sets the building on fire. Pedro and Wallace go for her rescue and, on the meanwhile, Wallace dies. Antônio's gang was depredating GG's wall during the same night, and he is suspected of setting the place on fire. The factory works are transferred to a second building on the same area.
Realizing the mutual interest between Carolina and Pedro, Ivonete decides to ally with Tomás to separate them. The plan fails, and Carolina starts dating Pedro, while Tomás starts a relationship with Ivonete. Vilma, the real incendiary, falsificates an insurance policy to looks like Walter set his own factory on fire. She set the factory on fire to eliminate proofs that she and Tomás were committing corruption. Tomás' hate against Walter and his family is fed by his mother, which tells him that Walter was responsible for João's death. According to her, João could not handle the pressure of being accused by Walter and died of a heart attack. It is then revealed that João died after being hit on the head by Miguel, Vilma's lover. After discovering this, Tomás turns against his mother, which becomes the main suspect of setting the factory on fire after the testimonies of Verônica and Ricardo, secretaries on the factory, which had seen her with her second victim, an insurance worker which she bribed to falsificate the policy whose car had blown up. After Walter dies on a set-up, it is revealed that there is a second incendiary, self-named "Phoenix", who is trying to incriminate Vilma. The identity of Walter's killer (i.e. "Phoenix") remained unknown until the last chapter, when the mysterious firer armed an ambush which resulted in Arlete's death (she was exploded alive inside her own car while chasing after Vilma) and Vilma incriminated with murder, thus sending her to prison. Through a teddy bear
encasing a cell phone linked with a powerful bomb, "Phoenix" revealed himself to Vilma to be indeed Leo, partnered with his older sister Darlene, the villainess's former house maid. Leo and Darlene finally reveal their prime motive to destroy Vilma: they were both children of the deceased legist doctor whom Vilma bribed
to deliver a false
autopsy
record surrounding João's death; times later, the same doctor, unable to live anymore with the shame
of doing such an unethical
thing, committed suicide
, thus triggering Leo's and Darlene's thirst of revenge
against Vilma for their father. Vilma is then killed by the blast, but "Phoenix"'s identities remained unknown for anyone else in the series.
. After his mother's death, Lipe moves from São Paulo
to Nova Iguaçu, and ends up raping
Viviane in the forest. After his second rape attempt, Lipe is caught by the police, but escapes. Viviane gets pregnant and undergoes an abortion
. Besides being a legal procedure on rape cases in Brazil, abortion was never treated in a frank and positive way on telenovelas such as it has been on Chamas da Vida. On the other hand, the telenovela also portrays the drama of women who decide to carry on a pregnancy resulted from rape with the character of Raíssa. She is forced by her parents to gave birth to Gabriel, who is raised as her brother. After both her parents die in a car accident, she becomes responsible for Gabriel, taking him from the countryside to Nova Iguaçu. The telenovela was also groundbreaking in Brazil for showing the prejudice transsexual people suffer with the character of Carlão/Docinho (lived by Roberto Bomtempo, one of its directors).
's A Favorita
, Chamas da Vida rose its audience ratings. The telenovela has reached an average rating of 15,5 in Rio de Janeiro and of 13,8 in São Paulo. Although its audience rating is higher in Rio than in São Paulo, proportionally Chamas da Vida has almost the double of viewers in the latter.
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian telenovela
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
produced by Rede Record
Rede Record
Rede Record de Televisão is a Brazilian television network, founded in 1953 by Paulo Machado de Carvalho, also founder of Rádio Record. Currently it is owned by businessman Edir Macedo, founder and bishop of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. Since 2007 it is Brazil's second largest...
. It premiered on July 8, 2008 and aired until April 28, 2009, at 9:45 p.m. schedule. Created by Cristianne Fridman, the telenovela is written by her in collaboration with Paula Richard, Renata Dias Gomes, Camilo Pellegrini and Nélio Abbade. It is directed by Edgard Miranda, Roberto Bomtempo and Rudi Lagemann.
Plot
Pedro is a firefighterFirefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
which lives in the neighborhood of Tinguá, in the border of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
and Nova Iguaçu
Nova Iguaçu
Nova Iguaçu is a city in southeast Brazil in the Baixada Fluminense region of Rio de Janeiro state. It was the state's second largest city until Mesquita was split off, and now is the fourth largest after São Gonçalo and Duque de Caxias. It lies northwest of the city of Rio de Janeiro, on the...
municipalities. After the sudden death of his parents, Pedro became responsible for the custody of his three brothers: Viviane, Rafael and trouble-maker Antônio, who works on GG ("Gelado-e-Gostoso", which is Portuguese for "Icy-and-Delicious"), a fictional ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
factory located in Tinguá. At nights, Antônio and his gang ("Gangue do Ferro-Velho", Portuguese for "The Junkyard Gang") practices acts of vandalism
Vandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
on the neighborhood, what makes his relationship with Pedro progressively estranged. Pedro dates Ivonete, twin sister of Lieutenant Wallace, Pedro's best friend since childhood.
Carolina is the only child of Walter and Arlete, founders of GG. She lives on the upper class neighborhood of Urca
Urca
Urca is a traditional and wealthy residential neighborhood with nearly 7,000 inhabitants in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Although most of the neighborhood dates from the 1920s, parts of it are much older...
and manages her own video production company. She dates Tomás for three years. She is about to marry him, without suspecting that all he wants is to take control of GG. Tomás is son of manipulative Vilma, co-founder of GG, which wants them to get marry for her to control GG once again. Her late husband João co-founded GG with Walter, Arlete and her, but Walter dissolved the partnership after João was accused of corruption, taking control of all the factory shares himself.
Pedro and Carolina where friends at childhood, but lost personal contact after they became adults. After Antônio set fire on a fraternization of GG workers, they meet once again. They feel a sudden attraction for each other, what causes instantaneous jealousy on Tomás. A security worker delates Antônio, which loses his job, compromising even more the troubled relationship with his brother. Carolina was filming the fraternization and returns at the factory at the same night to pick up her camera. She sees herself trapped when somebody sets the building on fire. Pedro and Wallace go for her rescue and, on the meanwhile, Wallace dies. Antônio's gang was depredating GG's wall during the same night, and he is suspected of setting the place on fire. The factory works are transferred to a second building on the same area.
Realizing the mutual interest between Carolina and Pedro, Ivonete decides to ally with Tomás to separate them. The plan fails, and Carolina starts dating Pedro, while Tomás starts a relationship with Ivonete. Vilma, the real incendiary, falsificates an insurance policy to looks like Walter set his own factory on fire. She set the factory on fire to eliminate proofs that she and Tomás were committing corruption. Tomás' hate against Walter and his family is fed by his mother, which tells him that Walter was responsible for João's death. According to her, João could not handle the pressure of being accused by Walter and died of a heart attack. It is then revealed that João died after being hit on the head by Miguel, Vilma's lover. After discovering this, Tomás turns against his mother, which becomes the main suspect of setting the factory on fire after the testimonies of Verônica and Ricardo, secretaries on the factory, which had seen her with her second victim, an insurance worker which she bribed to falsificate the policy whose car had blown up. After Walter dies on a set-up, it is revealed that there is a second incendiary, self-named "Phoenix", who is trying to incriminate Vilma. The identity of Walter's killer (i.e. "Phoenix") remained unknown until the last chapter, when the mysterious firer armed an ambush which resulted in Arlete's death (she was exploded alive inside her own car while chasing after Vilma) and Vilma incriminated with murder, thus sending her to prison. Through a teddy bear
Teddy bear
The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...
encasing a cell phone linked with a powerful bomb, "Phoenix" revealed himself to Vilma to be indeed Leo, partnered with his older sister Darlene, the villainess's former house maid. Leo and Darlene finally reveal their prime motive to destroy Vilma: they were both children of the deceased legist doctor whom Vilma bribed
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
to deliver a false
Hoax
A hoax is a deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth. It is distinguishable from errors in observation or judgment, or rumors, urban legends, pseudosciences or April Fools' Day events that are passed along in good faith by believers or as jokes.-Definition:The British...
autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
record surrounding João's death; times later, the same doctor, unable to live anymore with the shame
Shame
Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame....
of doing such an unethical
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
thing, committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, thus triggering Leo's and Darlene's thirst of revenge
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
against Vilma for their father. Vilma is then killed by the blast, but "Phoenix"'s identities remained unknown for anyone else in the series.
Cast
- Leonardo Brício - Corporal Pedro Galvão Ferreira
- Juliana SilveiraJuliana SilveiraJuliana Bragança Saúda Silveira, better known as Juliana Silveira , is a Brazilian actress and singer...
- Carolina Monteiro Azevedo de Castro - Lucinha LinsLucinha LinsLúcia Maria Werner Vianna Lins , better known as Lucinha Lins, is a Brazilian actress and singer.-Career:Lucinha became first known by the public on the 1979 Rede Globo series Plantão de Polícia, pioneer in issues such as homosexuality and drug traffic on the Brazilian television...
- Vilma Oliveira Santos - Bruno Ferrari - Tomás Oliveira Santos
- Amandha Lee - Ivonete
- Dado DolabellaDado DolabellaCarlos Eduardo Bouças Dolabella Filho is a Brazilian actor and singer. His parents are actor Carlos Eduardo Dolabella and actress Pepita Rodríguez.-Television :...
- Antônio Galvão Ferreira - Jussara Freire - Arlete Monteiro Azevedo de Castro
- Antônio Grassi - Dr. Walter Azevedo de Castro
- Floriano PeixotoFloriano Peixoto (actor)Floriano Peixoto Cordeiro de Farias, known as Floriano Peixoto is a Brazilian film and television actor from Rio de Janeiro.In 2007 he married the actress Christine Fernandes, with whom he had a son.-Television:...
- Miguel Costa - Íris Bruzzi - Tereza ("Vó Tuquinha")
- Andréia HortaAndréia HortaAndréia Horta is a Brazilian actress. Andréia Horta was born in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais.-Career:Horta played the role of Renata in the Rede Record's telenovela Alta Estação, and played the role of Beatriz in Chamas da Vida, which is another Rede Record telenovela...
- Beatriz Oliveira Santos - Letícia Colin - Viviane Galvão Ferreira ("Vivi")
- Ana Paula Tabalipa - Raíssa Mendes
- Milhem CortazMilhem CortazMilhem Cortaz is a Brazilian actor of film, stage and television.Cortaz' first role came on the 2000 film Mater Dei, written by Diogo Mainardi, where he portrayed a security guard. On 2002, he premiered on the television with a minor character on Rede Globo's unsuccessful telenovela Desejos de...
- Corporal Carlos José Lima ("Cazé") - Roger Gobeth - Corporal Guilherme Pimenta Britto ("Gui")
- Ewerton de Castro - Hermes Britto Pimenta ("Seu Britto")
- André Fillippi di Mauro - Felipe Rezende ("Lipe")
- Raymundo de Souza - Colonel-Lieutenant Eurico Camargo
- Umberto Magnani - Dionísio Cardoso de Oliveira
- Giuseppe Oristanio - Roberto Cardoso de Oliveira
- Juliana Lohmann - Manuella Castelli ("Manu")
- Luiza Curvo - Michelle Gomes
- Andressa Oliveira - Lídia
- Nathália Rodrigues - Suelen Almeida Batista
- Gabriel Gracindo - Corporal Eurico Camargo Jr. ("Júnior")
- Nina de Pádua - Lourdes
- Stela Freitas - Dra. Roseclair Pimenta Britto
- Catarina Abdalla - Margareth das Dores Vieira
- Ivone Hoffmann - Odiléia Pimenta
- Marilu Bueno - Tia Catarina
- Mariana Hein - Andressa
- Dáblio Moreira - Máicon das Dores Vieira ("Demorô")
- Thiago de Los Reyes - Gustavo Oliveira Santos ("Guga")
- Vítor Hugo - Fernando Teixeira ("Marreta")
- Claudiana Cotrim - Darlene
- Rafael Queiroga - Leonardo ("Léo") / "Phoenix"
- Edward Boggis - Diego
- Roberta Santiago - Gildete Rodrigues
- Lisandra Parede - Telma
- Giordanna Forte - Cintia Teixeira
- Guilherme Leme - André
- Roberto Bontempo - Marcos ("Docinho")
- Rodrigo FaroRodrigo FaroRodrigo Faro is a Brazilian telenovela actor, singer, dancer and TV presenter.He was a singer of the boy band Dominó.-Television jobs:*A Indomada *Malhação *Suave Veneno...
- Corporal Wallace - Sandra Pêra - Mercedes Ferreira
- Igor Cotrim - Jairo
- André Luiz Miranda - "Lincoln"
Controversies
One of the characters of the supporting cast, Viviane, gets involved with Lipe, a pedophile, on the internetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. After his mother's death, Lipe moves from São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
to Nova Iguaçu, and ends up raping
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
Viviane in the forest. After his second rape attempt, Lipe is caught by the police, but escapes. Viviane gets pregnant and undergoes an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
. Besides being a legal procedure on rape cases in Brazil, abortion was never treated in a frank and positive way on telenovelas such as it has been on Chamas da Vida. On the other hand, the telenovela also portrays the drama of women who decide to carry on a pregnancy resulted from rape with the character of Raíssa. She is forced by her parents to gave birth to Gabriel, who is raised as her brother. After both her parents die in a car accident, she becomes responsible for Gabriel, taking him from the countryside to Nova Iguaçu. The telenovela was also groundbreaking in Brazil for showing the prejudice transsexual people suffer with the character of Carlão/Docinho (lived by Roberto Bomtempo, one of its directors).
Audience
Chamas da Vida premiered at second place on the audience ratings. After SBT started to rerun Pantanal, the telenovela lost part of its audience. However, it remained on the second place, losing it to Pantanal once in a while. After the end of both Pantanal and Rede GloboRede Globo
Rede Globo , or simply Globo, is a Brazilian television network, launched by media mogul Roberto Marinho on April 26, 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Organizações Globo, being by far the largest of its holdings...
's A Favorita
A Favorita
A Favorita was a popular and award-winning telenovela, first broadcast in Brazil at Rede Globo from June 2, 2008 to January 17, 2009. During its broadcast, it ranked within the top of the most watched shows in Brazil....
, Chamas da Vida rose its audience ratings. The telenovela has reached an average rating of 15,5 in Rio de Janeiro and of 13,8 in São Paulo. Although its audience rating is higher in Rio than in São Paulo, proportionally Chamas da Vida has almost the double of viewers in the latter.