Força de um Desejo

The setting is Paraíba Valley, Rio de Janeiro, in the nineteenth century. Higino Ventura (Paulo Betti) is a former peddler who enriched with shady dealings and bought Hill Top Farm in the town of Sant'Anna, to approach his old flame, Helen (Sonia Braga), a resident of the farm neighbor, Golden Green, now married to the powerful Baron Henry de Sampaio Sobral (Reginaldo Faria). Ventura is willing to do anything to win back Helen, including buying Golden Green and obtaining a noble title. But Helena, though disregarding him for the love of her husband, suffers at the hands of the Baron, who knows that Abelard (Selton Mello), who raised him as his son is actually the son of Ventura.

The couple's legitimate son, Ignatius (Fábio Assunção), does not conform to the cruel treatment that his father gives his mother and decides to leave the farm. At Rio de Janeiro, he meets Esther Ramos Delamare (Malu Mader), a beautiful courtesan, owner of the most famous saloon of the Court. They fall in love and live an intense romance, and Esther decides to leave her kind of life just to live with Ignatius. However, the unexpected death of his mother makes Ignatius return to the farm to help his father and brother. Moreover, he splits with Esther because of intrigues by his grandmother, Idalina Menezes Albuquerque Silveira (Nathália Timberg), who, though not suspect Esther is a courtesan, fears her grandson's involvement with a girl of lower social class. To destroy the romance, Idalina falsifies his grandson's signature and sends Esther a letter, convincing her that Ignatius does not love her anymore.

Baron Sobral, devastated by the death of Helena and the feelings of guilt that torment him because he gave his wife a miserable life, decides to start his life and makes a long trip to the Court. After meeting Esther, he falls in love without knowing she is the woman who is loved by his son. He convinces her that it's not worth destroying her life by the disillusion that she is suffering, and willing to give her a chance to have a new life, asks her to marry him. After the marriage is sanctified, Sobral and Esther go to Golden Green, and getting there, Esther has over a sad surprise to come face to face with Ignatius; victims of a trap destination, now they will live on the same farm, without the Baron suspect that his new wife is the same woman his son had fallen in love.

Esther and Ignatius are avoided, but eventually end up clarifying the misunderstanding that separated them. They decide tell Sobral the truth, but end up not doing it to discover that the Baron is ill and, more than ever, needs the help of his family. Dissatisfied with the situation and knowing that Golden Green is facing financial difficulties, Ignatius married Alice (Lavinia Vlasak), the daughter of Higino Ventura and his wife, dazzled Barbara (Denise Del Vecchio), who only thinks of becoming a noble.

Meanwhile, Ventura struggle to get the barony and buy Golden Green, in order to humiliate the baron. He becomes obsessed with Olivia (Claudia Abreu), a young woman who arrives to the village of Sant'Anna. Snubbed by the girl, he tries to find out who she is and he discovers that she is a white slave who fled from another village and is being sought by the police. Olivia born of the relationship between a wealthy landowner and a slave already quite clear, as is described in the plot. Her father recognized her as a daughter, and even his family did not accept such situation, he gave him the name of Anna Tambellini, educated her and wrote her letter of manumission. But the big mistake of the man was not register officially the letter. When he died, his eldest daughter, making envy, tore the letter of manumission and wanted to make Anna a slave. For this reason the girl ran away and changed her name to Olivia. However, Ventura, finding Olivia's sister and become aware of the whole story, decides to deliver her, and then buying her to use as a sex slave. She then begins to live in a hell, unable to get rid from the clutches of her cruel owner, even aided by her boyfriend, the young doctor Mariano Xavier (Marcelo Serrado), and their friends, among them Ignatius and Esther.

But one fact undermines the entire village of Sant'Anna: Baron Henry Sobral is murdered during the feast of betrothal between Abelard and sweet Juliana (Julia Feldens), at the same night which Ignatius and Esther flee to live together after knowing about the farce of Sobral's disease - fear of losing his wife, the Baron made the disease up as a way to prevent Esther leave, keeping her well, by his side. Local police mobilized to arrest Ignatius, the prime suspect in the death of Baron. Then begins a race against time to Ignatius did not pay for the crime he did not commit, while those who believe it try to uncover the identity of the real killer.

• Força de um Desejo at IMDb