O Clone

Plot synopsis:
In the early 1980s, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Jade (Giovanna Antonelli), a young Muslim girl is orphaned when her mother dies and has to go to Morocco where her uncle Alí lives. The problem is that Jade was living in a country with a culture very different from that of an Islamic country. Thus, once she arrives in Morocco, she must learn all concomitant new traditions and customs, adjust to her new way of living, and face all the punishments she will be exposed to because of her conflicting personality and actions that go against her religion.
Back in Rio, a well-off family, the Ferraz, go to vacation in Morocco. Twin brothers Lucas and Diogo Ferraz (Murilo Benício), along with Leônidas (Reginaldo Faria), their father, and doctor Augusto Albieri (Juca de Oliveira), friend of the family and genetic scientist, visit Alí, a friend of Albieri's. There, Lucas and Jade meet for the first time, and they fall in love at first sight. Jade, knowing it's haraam (a sin) to love Lucas, decides to forgo her religious mandates for the sake of love, which prohibit her from marrying a non-religious person. In desperation, Jade and Lucas resolve to run away to Brazil.
Meanwhile, in Rio, Diogo tragically dies in a helicopter crash. Both Lucas and Leônidas are devastated by the news and Lucas' plans of running away with Jade are subsequently ruined. Albieri, his godparent, is shattered and becomes deeply despondent. He never recovered fully from the death of his fiancée, and Diogo's death reinvigorates his distress.
In an effort to change the natural course of events, Albieri in his despair resolves to utilize Lucas' cell in order to make the first human clone. Deusa (Adriana Lessa), a low-middle class woman who has not been able to get pregnant, is subsequently inseminated with Lucas' cell, and as a result gives birth to a baby, not knowing that it is a clone. Léo is born without complications, but Albieri wants to stay close to Léo and watch him grow up. Léo gradually becomes attached to Albieri, thus making Deusa uneasy.
Several years have passed since Léo was born. Now, Jade is married to Saíd (Dalton Vigh) and she's a mother of a little child, Khadija (Carla Diaz). She lives happily with her new family and is even starting to love Saíd. However, due to Said's insecurities a new encounter with Lucas is forced upon her to test Jade's love for him, with this encounter the old passion revives, but they're not the young lovers they once were and now they have new lives and new responsibilities. Lucas, who also is married, to Maysa (Daniela Escobar) and with a daughter, Mel (Débora Falabella) doesn't know he had been cloned 20 years before. Albieri had kept this a secret from everybody's knowledge and is trying to make it so that Léo and Lucas never meet and thus find out the truth. The last thing Albieri knew from Léo is that he and Deusa went to the north of Brazil, but with the return of both, Léo has become a young, handsome man, and the living image of the young Lucas whom Jade met in Morocco. The appearance of Leo in Brazil and his later travels to Morocco will change the life of all the characters forever.

Tags: romantic

Review:
The best soap opera of the beginning of 21st century.
Topics like drugs, two similar religions, forbidden love and ethics are mixed by Gloria Perez very well..
What do you get when you mix the story of two young lovers and the making of a human clone?
You get an interesting story by way of a Brazilian telenovela (soap opera) called O CLONE (The Clone).Known for incorporating social issues into her stories, Glória Perez includes the following topics in her latest telenovela: Drug addiction, Middle Eastern culture (Muslim lifestyle), and science fiction (human cloning).
Given the current news headlines of cloning and the Middle East, the telenovela becomes even more important and gives cause for discussion after viewing each episode.O CLONE takes the viewer to two striking locations - modern-day Brazil and Morocco.
The two main characters are introduced - Jade, a headstrong Muslim girl from Morocco and Lucas, a docile, daydreamer from Brazil with a Catholic religious background.
In addition to their story, a scientist creates a human clone after a loved one prematurely dies.
This clone later becomes an important part of the lives of Jade and Lucas.The viewer gets a chance to see a Muslim household and what goes on there.
Despite the differences between the cultures - Christian and Muslim, it becomes clear that there are many similarities such as one's love of family and the desire to find happiness.Veteran novela director, Jayme Monjardim and his team have produced an outstanding product with O CLONE.
His handiwork shows beautiful close-ups of the actors and enchanting shots of the land and cityscape of Morocco and Brazil.
He skillfully captures both places.The lead actress, Giovanna Antonelli (Jade), gives a believable presentation as the Muslim girl, torn between following her true heart's desire and the dictates of her family to marry the man chosen for her.
Lead actor, Murilo Benício (Lucas) also gives a winning performance as the young man who has fallen in love with a girl from a different society who his family will not accept.
Benício plays three different roles - twins and the clone.
Each character is different and convincing.The rest of the cast also gives strong performances.
Actually the cast list goes on I'm sure you get the idea.
All the actors are good.O CLONE captured the attention of over 18 million viewers in Brazil.
For the first time in the history of telenovelas shown in the U.S., English sub-titles (closed caption) have been included.
Now, non-Spanish speakers have a chance to enjoy the story as well.In addition to an arresting and sometimes controversial storyline, the telenovela has a fun music soundtrack full of Brazilian and Middle Eastern music.
Thanks to musical director, Marcus Viana, the music adds to the success of the novela as a whole.O CLONE is one of those telenovelas that doesn't waste your time.
I highly recommend this Brazilian soap opera for your viewing pleasure..
I normally don't watch things that are dubbed into another language: It annoys me to not know whether the dubbing actor's voice matches that of the one on screen, and it also bothers me that emotional nuances of the original actors' performances could be lost in translation.
I made an exception for El Clon (as it was called in the US) and I'm glad I did.We don't normally get a look at Muslim family values in the US, and many who have not watched this excellent novela will never know the fascinating things to be learned from it.
The misogyny that infects people in the fundamentalist countries is absent from the Muslim characters, who rejoice at the birth of healthy daughters and love them as much as their sons.
Other issues are touched upon including the practice of FGM (not in the Qur'an and condemned by Tio Ali as an antiquated barbaric tribal practice), veiling, arranged marriages, divorce and child custody issues, the actual Muslim viewpoint on marital sex (very good news here), and inter cultural relations.
Tio Ali is one of the most endearing characters in the story as the philosophical uncle of the impulsive and headstrong Jade.
He does not take advantage of what Tio Ali tells us in a late episode is the greatest gift to man: the right to think.
For that reason, he sometimes rails at the ideas of others in a most annoying manner.Related issues are presented in contrast in the larger Brazilian community as the Brazilian characters court, marry, commit adultery, move up or down socially, deal with substance abuse, and attempt to endure the slings and arrows of their own outrageous fortune.
In the end we are asking ourselves whether a social structure is worth bowing to when the personal human cost is as high as the price paid by Lucas, Jade, Maysa, Said, and the people affected by their fates.The comic relief in this series is brilliant and is sometimes expressed in small, unexpected moments.
A good example is the scene in Rio where Mohamed suddenly gets hungry while seeing a man eating a sandwich on the street during Ramadan, a sight he realizes he would never see back home in Morocco.
The one story fault here is that there is no adequate explanation for her unmarried state in a culture where most people are married off in their late teens and early twenties, unless we conclude that Tio Abdul knew that she would make any husband's life miserable in the long term.The social and ethical issues about human cloning are well-presented although not dealt with on the human level until late in the story: Does a clone have parents and who are they?
What of the person whose cells were used to make the clone, especially if he did not consent to the procedure?
She is in deep denial about the fact that there is something incredibly wrong when she gives birth to an infant who is so racially different from herself, but loves that child intensely, protecting him like a lioness with a cub.
He is one of the most intriguing minor characters as the Egyptian-born Muslim who straddles both cultures socially while emotionally probably belonging more to the non-Muslim world than he thinks he does.
He is the emotional flip side of Jade in addition to being the most sexually charismatic of the male characters in this story.The entire production is visually stunning, with big-screen style images both of Brazil and Morocco, and a music soundtrack worthy of an epic film.
Did every belly dancer in Rio and Fez get a chance to appear in this series?While Mexican novelas manipulate you emotionally, this Brazilian production makes you think.
I have also seen this soap opera twice, I just love the settings, the views, the locations, the story and the people in it!
In the beginning I got hooked up by the scenery, the story was just too sweet and plain, then it started to change, I learned about muslims and the way they live, and how everything made sense.
20 years later, the characters slightly changed, and a new neighborhood added new dimension to the story development.
I hated Lucas; because of him, his relationship with Jade never took off.
something good about, as told by a soap-opera's anti-fan.
I have always hated south-american soap-operas, but this show is better than Dallas.
It has an interesting subject, good actors, absolutely gorgeous scenes, and the music...
It' also nice to see Islamic people presented as human, and not as "terrorist beasts".The only thing that bothers me is that the show has so many episodes, and I foresee that many more will follow (at his date - Dec '02 - we are watching the episodes where Xande is falsely accused by Maysa of steeling her necklace).
In experts' hands this original plot might have made an extremely good soap opera..
The idea of producing a cloned human being, watch this creature grow up to become a twenty-year-old man, and eventually see him meet his genetic `twin brother' is an original plot in itself.
Having a few romantic and adult sub-plots added, and a great deal of the whole story taking place in the context of Muslim religious and cultural background in Brazil and in Morocco, can certainly complicate a director's task.
Gloria Perez's `O Clone' is certainly well above most soap operas shown on TV.
The actors and actresses give good performances, the main plot is original, and the Muslim background adds a curious atmosphere, at least to a non-Muslim audience.
At a certain point, however, Miss Perez seems to have lost grip of the situation, getting lost in the midst of  so many intricate and intertwined sub-plots which, one would think, she doesn't know how to end..
The best Brazilian series of all time.
I love this series, is best for television that has been done in latinomarica, simple as that.
The performances are perfect, credible, too real, especially highlighting the actors Murilo Benicio (Lucas / Leo / Diogo), Giovanna Antonelli (Jade) and Débora Falabella (Mel), among others.The music is perfect, the songs in Spanish and Arabic very well selected, the scenery is spectacular, the shots are majestic, the issues it addresses as the clash of cultures and drug problems were well tackled.In conclusion, it was worth seeing the 250 chapters, indeed, when repeated on television here in Chile saw her again complete.My vote: 10 star..
the great virtue is the mix between science and Oriental flavors.the second - love stories.
and, sure, soap - opera tools.
a seductive series who impresses for its courage to use so many different ingredients.
a large fresco with nice performances - the work of Murilo Benicio is admirable -, good options of team for interesting themes and a lovely story who has the force to be more than a part of a long South American soap operas list..
This soap opera is about to end here in Prishtina, but even though it has not finished yet I can wright a short summary based on what I saw and what I thought is worth saying.
The thing I find most useful is the damage caused by drugs in social/health life and the horrible consequences that a person has to take after starting to use drugs and the suffering he/she causes to the family, him/herself and the entire society.
The other thing worth mentioning is the human cloning, though the idea of cloning sounds fascinating at first, the consequences are not the ones the mankind would like to have.
Or actually the father of the person who's cell has been used to make the human clone..?
I guess I would feel very bad in that case (being a human clone) and the idea of seeing myself younger/older would make me proper sick.
Otherwise the fate/love stories are just fairy tales to make the audience (women most) to watch the soap operas though the audience can learn a lot of things from "O Clone".
As usual, actors gave us the best performance, that's why I try to watch as most Brazilian novels as I can.
They have really good actors, even the youngest.
But from all in this novel, Murillo Benicio performed the very best three actor's personalities.
I visited Morocco and this touched me the most, to review their lives and musics.
That's why I do need your help as I'd like to know the name of the Arabian dance/music heard during Said's marriage scene (I think the second marriage) sung by a woman dancing and followed up by another dancers.
O clone, the best ever!.
I am watching O clone, now, on one of our channels, and I am in love with it.
It is the most beautiful soap operas I have ever seen.
Great story, beautiful make up, interesting plots, good actors, a lot of mystery, and deep looks.
But I watched it a couple of years ago, and I do not remember who Zein is, why on earth Jade marries him, and what impact does it have on Lucas's life?
I also love the marrocan lifestyle, their clothing, their houses, even if in this story they showed the house of one of the best families from there.
Atypical soap opera.
I watched it as a kid and skipped through some episodes now and I maintain my opinion that this isn't your typical South American soap opera.
The main theme, the leitmotif of this story is "morality" and the different approaches of it.
There are multiple conflicts going on and, as the fight is a spiritual and mental one, we could devide it into ethos, logos and pathos, meaning, in this case, the authority of the Muslim religion (Ali - who's the father figure), science and facts (Albieri) and passion (Jade and Lucas).
A thing that is kind of overlooked is Xande's love for Mel. Maybe the most selfless and sincere of all..
A very good soap opera..
So I watched "The Clone" at least three times.
I watched the first time it was broadcast in Portugal, around 1998, and on two other occasions, in which the soap opera was reprized.
I can say that it is one of the best soap operas ever made by Brazilians.The story takes place in Morocco and essentially portrays two stories that intersect.
The first concerns the impossible love between Jade, a Muslim girl, and Lucas, a Westerner.
The second story concerns Dr. Albieri, a reputed geneticist who is obsessed with human cloning and who, against all the ethical rules of his profession, creates the first human clone and implants it in the belly of one of his patients, the young Deusa, who wanted only to be a mother through artificial insemination.The soap opera has good and bad moments.
There are more improbable scenes but the good construction of the story makes us ignore that.
Much of it was filmed in Brazil but there are many scenes that were actually filmed in Morocco.
There is still an extension of the soap opera where drugs and addiction subject is introduced, in a somewhat abrupt and uninteresting way.
Several Brazilian good actors were in this work but I would emphasize, for their good performance, Murilo Benício, Vera Fischer, Reginaldo Faria, Letícia Sabatella and Stênio Garcia..
the exoticism does the great difference between The Clone and the other soap operas.
not the last, the clash between civilizations, mixture of tradition and Brazilian life style, the old themes - love, jealousy, romanticism, science against life, joy to discover the sounds and colors and flavors of a land who seems be part of myths, all is beautiful, seductive and impressive.
a series about truth and appearances, using good actors and interesting script, it is a sort of fairy tale who could define in other manner the soap opera genre..
This soap opera is the best I have ever seen, and believe me I have seen many.
It is romantic but it also informs people about other cultures of the world that were previously ignored.
I would say that this soap opera is soooo good that it doesn't need the so called stars rating because this soap is on a totally different level..
I have to say I am Mexican and therefore I am used to the same storyline for a novela but O Clone captured me with only the previews, before it even started I already wanted to watch it.
I always admired Brazil for their soccer team, beautiful paradise, and now for their work.
This novela leaves you wanting more and wishing that it would keep going not just a restricted time at night, you want to see the whole entire thing all at once.
But my respects to the director, Giovanna Antonelli, Murilo Benicio, the rest of the cast and crew for the great work.
Nothing but the best from Brazil.
Brazilian TV is never going to be the same after "O Clone".
A fascinating and exotic story, that mix things like human cloning, the muslim culture and drug/alcohol addiction problems.
O Clone/El Clon has reached its end here in Brazil last Friday.
Obviously, I'm not gonna tell what happened, but I'd like to add that regarding Leo (El Clon) it was a fair ending, considering no one could really tell what would've happened to a real clon!
This could be explained because it came in the perfect moment, not only because the human cloning is a recent issue, but also because it premiered 1 month after the attacks of September 11th, when the curiosity about the Muslim culture reached the highest levels.
The campaign of author Gloria Perez against the drug and alcohol addiction, featuring 2 teenage characters, Mel and Nando, also was a great success and is helping to show people about all the bad things that come along with the pleasure that drugs bring.
I'm watching El Clon, and its the best novela there is today.
Its the most romantic and passionate novela I have ever seen in television.
The passion in the actors is so amazing.
Great work to all who where involved in EL Clon.
'O Clone' is an amazing soap.
It's one of very few soaps which can make you thinking.
I love the Portuguese language, the actors are amazing and the whole soap is great.
250 episodes is maybe too much but actually i wish that it never ended.
and Giovanna Antonelli *Jade* has been in Sarajevo (: One of the things i really like about the soap, is that it's not only about Brazilians and Muslims, but also about many other things like: drugs, love etc.
For example there is some times when there's happening some weird things which is not realistic.
And there is also some things i don't like in the soap.
And personally i don't like the idea about that Edna thinks that Albieri and Amalia have something together.
i think that the soap is fantastic, and it made me begin learning Portuguese.