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| Capitães de Areia | |
| |
| Original release | |
| April 3, 1972 – August 11, 1972 | |
| Created by | |
| Oduvaldo Vianna Filho | |
| Based on | |
| Capitães de Areia by Jorge Amado | |
| Genre | |
| Telenovela Drama Social criticism | |
| Running time | |
| 35 minutes | |
| Production companies | |
| TV Excelsior | |
| Directed by | |
| Henrique Martins | |
| Opening theme | |
| "Na Baixa do Sapateiro" (instrumental) | |
| Music by | |
| Ary Barroso | |
| Country | |
| Brazil | |
| Language | |
| Portuguese | |
| No. of episodes | |
| 113 | |
| Original network | |
| TV Excelsior |
Capitães de Areia (English: Sand Captains) is a Brazilian telenovela, produced and released by TV Excelsior, it was shown at 10:00 pm, between April 3, 1972 and August 11, 1972, obtaining 113 episodes. It is based on the eponymous 1937 romance by Jorge Amado. It included Marcos Frota, Christiane Torloni, Cosme dos Santos, André De Biase, Lauro Corona, Waldyr Sant'anna and Dênis Derkian in the main cast.
Plot[]
In Salvador, Bahia, there is a group of street children calling themselves “Capitães de Areia” (Sand Captains), they make a living by begging for money and even stealing objects, food, and drinks. The group brings together around 40 minors, between 9 and 16 years old, who live in an old warehouse. The leader of the group is Pedro Bala, a boy with a scar on his face from having fought for leadership of the group against the former commander: Raimundo. Pedro Bala has an affair with Dora, who is part of the group.
Therefore, if caught, they would be sent to the reformatory, which happens, Pedro and Dora are caught while stealing, and sent there. When in the reform school, an outbreak of smallpox ravages Salvador, two characters end up dying: Dora, who dies in Pedro's hands, and Almiro, one of the boys in the gang, meanwhile, more members of the group are captured by police, while others die in shootouts against other gangs and policemen. Still there, Pedro has contacts with communist ideals, which shape his way of thinking, becoming a Marxist.
In the final phase of the story, Pedro Bala leaves the reformatory, as an adult, and meets the remaining members of the group alive, now adults, and discovers that they have achieved their personal ambitions. Furthermore, he finally discovers who his father really was, in this case a trade union leader called Loiro, who died during a shootout. After which, his already well-developed interest in becoming a communist revolutionary leader comes out. In the end, Pedro is shown leading a crowd of homeless and vulnerable workers in a protest set in Vitória, an upscale neighborhood in Salvador where Pedro's group used to roam and rob.
Divergences[]
The telenovela version presents some divergences with the plot of the 1937 original work, one of which is the fact that Gato, one of the members of Capitães de Areia, in the original novel is presented as a minor. In the soap opera, he is presented as an adult delinquent. He joins the boys, even at one point taking them to a nightclub, where Gato has a relationship with one of the prostitutes, Dalva.
Unlike the book, in the soap opera version, when Pedro leaves the reformatory he is already an adult and the group he led was completely dismantled by the police. In the book, although he equally becomes a communist leader at the end, he appoints one of the Capitães de Areia boys, Barandão, to be his successor in command of the group; in the telenovela plot, Barandão is one of the murdered boys.
Boa Vida, one of the group's delinquents, has more presence than in the 1937 novel; in addition, an ending is created for him, with him being mentioned as a successful musician, who lives in São Paulo and became a Jazz singer. Many non-existent plots and characters were also created to supply the 113 episodes that Capitães de Areia had. Many of these changes were requested by the dramaturgy nucleus of TV Excelsior, in order to give more dynamism to the plot and so that it could better adapt to the telenovela format.
Controversies[]
Pedro and Dora relationship[]
One of the main points of the plot, the romantic relationship between Pedro Bala and Dora was also the flagship of the soap opera's controversies when it aired. Various conservative and family organizations and groups across the country emphasized the fact that many scenes used non-verbal language to show that Pedro and Dora were already practicing coitus in their love relationship, even though they were underage.
Another group that also advocated against the topic were the religious, most notably the priest of Trindade Parish, Daniel Martinez, who in May 1972 had a petition signed by more than 90,000 people demanding action from the Secretary of Communications regarding the soap opera, in what he called “a legitimate action for the defense of the innocence of children and the discouragement of carnal pleasure as an attraction.” The petition, however, was ignored by the Secretary of Communications. After this, TV Excelsior sent a clear message on May 30, 1972, before the soap opera was shown: “Dear viewer, if you don't feel comfortable with the attitudes of any character or any scene in 'Capitães de Areia', just leave to another broadcaster, but with respect for the other one that watch and enjoy this attraction. Television is individuality, and everyone will watch what they want and like.”
Another controversial part was the relationship between the characters in the plot, since Pedro sometimes assaulted Dora. Several educational institutions denounced Excelsior for a vertiginous increase in the number of male students beating up female students, and accused the soap opera of having a direct link to these numbers.
Apology to Communism[]
Many who identify with the right-wing political spectrum accuse the novel of being an apology for Communism, due to the ending of its protagonist and the narrative of the final chapters, where it is discovered that Pedro's father was a leader of a Marxist trade union movement. When Pedro serves his sentence and is released, he decides to follow the same steps, following a path as a Marxist leader.
Cast[]
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