Cidadão Brasileiro
It was written by Lauro César Muniz with the collaboration of Rosane Lima and Dora Castellar, and directed by Flávio Colatrello Jr, Fábio Junqueira, João Camargo, Ivan Zettel and Henrique Martins.
[1][2] The title of the telenovela is a reference to the protagonist Antônio Maciel, an "ambiguous hero who oscillates between his professional dream and the temptation of easy money", according to Muniz.
[1][2] It features Gabriel Braga Nunes, Lucélia Santos, Paloma Duarte, Carla Regina, Floriano Peixoto, Luíza Tomé, Tuca Andrada and Leonardo Brício in the lead roles.
[1][2] At Globo, Lauro César Muniz was responsible for very successful telenovelas, such as Escalada, Roda de Fogo and O Salvador da Pátria.
Since then, every synopsis he presented to Globo's Teledramaturgy Department was rejected or shelved, as the company wanted to "make soap operas along Mexican lines in order to export more".
[9] Elements of three telenovelas written by Lauro César Muniz (Escalada, O Casarão and Quarenta Anos Depois) are represented in Cidadão Brasileiro.
Although they share similar themes, in Cidadão Brasileiro, Muniz sought to "have the same concern for inserting the character into a political and social universe".
[3] The role of Fausta was initially offered to actress Sônia Braga, who showed interest in the character but did not reach an agreement with Record.
[16] The hiring of Floriano Peixoto, who would play Atílio, the main rival of the protagonist in the plot, was confirmed on January 8, 2006, a few days before filming began.
[25]Before Colatrello's departure, conflicts were reported for different reasons, such as the lighting used, his behavior during filming and the method that would be used to age the characters during the second phase of the production.
[1][2][32][19] The plot begins when Antônio Maciel, an agricultural salesman, is robbed by Fausta (Lucélia Santos), a woman who seduces him and takes all the money he had received and was supposed to give to his boss.
She plans to run a scam on Atílio (Floriano Peixoto), the city's main landowner and political leader, posing as a representative of the federal government who will help him in his election campaign.
In the mid-1950s, Brasilia begins to be built and Antônio goes to the Central Plateau to participate in the project, working for Edouard Girard (Gilbert Stein), owner of the construction company Obradec.
While Fausta ends up alone and bankrupt, Atílio, despite also facing financial problems, manages to resume his marriage after moving from Guará to São Paulo and selling his properties to Antônio.
[33][1][34] Cidadão Brasileiro was rebroadcast for the first time from April 9, 2014, to January 27, 2015, in 213 chapters at 5:15 pm by RFTV, which belongs to Grupo Record, replacing Essas Mulheres.
"[42] Leila Reis, from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, evaluated the premiere positively and pointed out that it showed "how big the gap is between Globo and the others".
[43] In the premiere, Cidadão Brasileiro scored 15 points in the Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics (IBOPE) measurement, making it the second highest audience in the time slot during the period.
[46][47][48][49] In March 2006, journalist Amelia Gonzalez pointed out that the performance of actress Carla Regina, who tried to "force the image of a seductive and naive young woman", was caricatured in some moments.
The constant presence of eroticized dialogues was highlighted by reports in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper and the Istoé Gente and Veja magazines.
The increasingly common presence of eroticized scenes attracted attention, especially since Record is a television station linked to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.
Tiago Santiago, author of Prova de Amor, argued that his experience showed him "what can and can't be shown in this time slot", which is why he paid "constant attention" to what was shown, trying to produce a telenovela that the whole family could watch, while Muniz argued that he had complete freedom to write the plot, and that "latent sensuality" was "a hallmark" of his work.
[53] Taíssa Stivanin, from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, commented that Cidadão Brasileiro "showed that the investment made in the area of teledramaturgy [by Record] puts the broadcaster close to Globo's level" and explained that "it's still early to conclude about the soap opera's performance, but it premiered with stories and conflicts well tied up by author Lauro César Muniz.
[55] Bia Abramo pointed out that the story was very ambitious and said that "the possibility of the soap opera offering an imaginary space for the construction of a national identity may have narrowed, become desolate and been transferred to paradidactic miniseries."
Despite this caveat, Antônio's assessment was positive: "The hero, ambiguous as is appropriate these days, is cut out to represent the subject in the struggle for social ascension in a country refractory to any construction project that lasts long enough to come to fruition.
"[56] After the end of production, Dirceu Alves Jr., in a review published by Istoé Gente magazine, said that the production was "ambitious" and "bold" and that "a great cast, a script full of intertextuality by the great Lauro César Muniz and Record's investment to establish itself in teledramaturgy conspired to make Cidadão Brasileiro an outstanding soap opera".
Simone Mousse, from the newspaper O Globo, commented that "Cidadão Brasileiro seeks to take stock of Brazil's history through its characters".
