Vila Faia

Vila Faia is currently being repeated on the new Portuguese cable channel "RTP Memória" (RTP memory, of course). That's why I decided to comment.

I am not exactly the most adequate person to comment on this series since I am not Portuguese-born. When the series was aired first, I didn't understand at all what they were saying. Now, after living here over 20 years I of course understand it probably better than anything coming from my native Germany.

I am surprised that no one has commented yet on this Portuguese TV series. It marks the first Portuguese attempt to produce an epic and melodramatic TV series molded exactly after the Brazilian "telenovela". It can't be accurately translated into English (soap opera being the closest) because the whole idea behind this format - a melodramatic epic usually showing parallel stories of rich and a poor characters spanning over a hundred episodes running well over a year - is Latin/Latin American. Yes the British have done that long ago but the whole feel is totally different because it's a totally different culture with totally different values and behavior.

To my best of knowledge the "telenovelas" actually originated in Mexico - at least this is the country currently producing the highest number of these.

Vila Faia was back then, and still remains, at best a shy attempt at the format. The story, camera work, lighting, production values, timing and much of the acting are very weak showing a great lack of experience.

The story evolves around a rich family of wine producers and their troubles. The great Ruy de Carvalho, a stage trained actor, manages to bring weight and importance to a rather dull script trying to portrait the "real Portugal" but it doesn't provide any insight. It actually only portrays the way the Portuguese would like to see themselves - I find the attempts at showing the decay of the rich and powerful people somehow half hearted. But back then viewers had to make do with this series, and I'm sure many people found it most entertaining to see something familiar on the TV screen instead of the Brazilian, British and American material which was dominating.

The other actor worth watching is Nicolau Breyner, playing the troubled alcoholic truck driver (he manages to be kind of sober when driving though). Breyner also directed the actors. I don't want to belittle anyone else but most performances are frankly weak - the transition from stage was pehaps too hard to handle in this first attempt.

O.K. one exception: Manuela Marle, playing the girlfriend of the rebel son of the rich family, is so gorgeous that she hardly needs to act anyway.

Part of the problem definitely comes from the experimental stage the format was in back then. By now, over 20 years later, the very same actors, most still work, do excellent jobs with the same format that has become a standard in Portugal by now. The stiff "where and how should I look? Never mind." style with ridiculous over dramatization and bad timing is gone and replaced by a more relaxed and flowing style. Still the Brazilian telenovelas, most of these aired in Portugal as well, are miles ahead regarding the acting. Maybe Brazilians are always acting...

The music, if I'm not mistaken by the late Thilo Krassmann, is surprisingly good. It is in part molded after Brazilian music with rich harmonies and beautiful melodic lines, mostly used for transition as opposed to underscoring. This style is gone forever - in any country - by now, replaced by pop songs and more trendy stuff.

Good to hear that once they had real musicians trying to play beautiful music. I don't say it still should be that way, the approach has run its course, it's just nice to hear that is was possible once, a long time ago.

This series is of value because it marks a beginning. Worth only for the great performances of Ruy de Carvalho and Nicolau Breyner - and the pleasant music.