Gabriela (1975 TV series)

Walter George Durst's free adaptation based on the novel Jorge Amado's Gabriela, Cravo e Canela (1958), takes place in 1925, when a devastating drought forces the hungry populations of the Brazilian Northeast to emigrate in search of survival. In the novel, the destination is Ilhéus, in the south of Bahia, a region in expansion thanks to the planting and commerce of cacao. Gabriela (Sônia Braga) is one of the victims of the drought. Free and impulsive, she gets a job as a cook at the home of the "Turkish" Nacib (Armando Bógus), with whom she lives a sensual love story.

Gabriela was created to give time to production of the telenovela O Rebu, by Braulio Pedroso. But this one was aired before, and Gabriela was aired to celebrate the ten years of TV Globo.[4] The plot, according with Daniel Filho, was thought taking into account a narrative structure based on different episodes.

Daniel Filho says that during the search for the ideal woman to live Gabriela, tried an unusual choice: he made an invitation to Gal Costa. The singer from Bahia, meanwhile, declined, claiming she did not know how to perform. Then numerous tests were done for the character; But the director decided that the role would have to be of Sônia Braga since seeing his performance in Caminhos do Coração – Caso Especial written and directed by Domingos Oliveira in 1971 -, and insisted with Boni that she be chosen. The actress ended up consecrated in the paper, that would represent again in 1983, in the film Gabriela directed by Bruno Barreto, acting alongside the Italian Marcello Mastroianni.[5]

Gabriela was the first Brazilian telenovela to aired in Portugal in May 1977, on RTP,[6] and consecrated Sônia Braga as a sex symbol.

• Gabriela at IMDb