Adele Fátima: the queen of Brazil’s 1970s soft core “pornochanchada” films

Note from BW of Brazil: Today we feature one of Brazil’s most recognized symbols of the swinging, sexploitation films of the 1970’s: Adele Fátima. Adele was a star of a genre of films known as “pornochanchadas” that, while risque, did not depict explicit sex although they did pushed the envelope, and wasn’t critical of government. This was important as Brazil’s military dictatorship heavily censored much in the media at the time. Although it is true that Fátima definitely contributed to the sexualized image of black women in Brazil, her presence in the 1970s and 1980s cannot be ignored if one is to understand things that makes Brazil Brazil. Read on…

One of the most famous names in the Brazilian film genre known as “pornochanchada”, a type of soft core porn with a comedic twist, actress Adele Fátima is now a legacy of the Brazilian cinema. Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1954, the actress is from a wealthy family. Her parents lived in a house with five floors and an elevator in Urca (1), in the 1950s.

The tendency towards an artistic career has always been part of the girl’s life. In the early ‘70s, has held the title of “Certinha Lalau”, and was known to the general public, and certainly most men, as the poster girl of the campaigns of the Bangu and Paints Ypiranga soccer clubs.

In 1972, sponsored by actor/producer/director Augusto César Vanucci, she became part of the casting of the Globo TV network, and, from there she started her career in comedy cameos.

In 1973, the model fell into the graces of Carlo Mossy, producer, director and actor of the so-called chanchada (2) movies, and began her film career, having also participated in a James Bond film, 007 Against the Rocket of Death. Owner of what Globo online called, “the most famous butt of the 70’s, which she says inspired the architect Oscar Niemeyer to create the symbol of the famous Praça da Apoteose (Apotheosis Square) in Rio.

However, the major milestone in Adele’s career was her participation in a commercial for the canned sardine, Sardinhas 88, in which the gorgeous mulata frantically danced the samba to the sound of a samba-jingle, while the camera circled her anatomy, and featured the number 88 stamped at the back of her bikini thong. The image, until today, is one of the most exciting and intoxicating in Brazilian advertising.

Another highlight is the film Histórias que nossas babás não contavam (Stories that our nannies didn’t tell) in 1979, a satire of the classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and directed by Oswaldo de Oliveira, the film is one of the most emblematic of the pornochanchada genre. Adele, who, as we know, is black, plays none other than Snow White (Branca de Neve in Portuguese). And the dwarves are seven small sexual perverts.

The movies she starred in are being rerun on channel 66 on cable TV. Two years ago, Adele was elected queen of the station because of her performance in Histórias que nossas babás não contavam.

Talking about the pornochanchada films, the actress says, “the great essence of these films was to humor, being lightweight; with no violence, dramas, or murders. It’s a movie for fun.”

Years later, Adele Fátima also sang, was the muse of a samba school, starred in shows and became one of the “mulatas de Sargentelli (Sargentelli’s mulatas)”. Adele pioneered the role of Rainha da Bateria (queen of the drumbeat), commanding the drummers of Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel Samba School in 1981. The queen post was only created a few years later. Adele said she resigned because Samba schools started a phase of exhibitionism that did not suit her.

She participated in miniseries like Memorial de Maria Moura, Agosto in 1993, 18 films and even protested in support of environmental causes of extinction of sardines in the oceans. Today, almost 60, she lives with her husband in the famous Copacabana region of Rio and is one of the symbols of the neighborhood.

Despite having moved away from the small screen and big screen, Adele Fátima still lives in the minds of men incited by his strong sexuality, and women who admired her clean and unvarnished beauty.

Adele Fátima dancing for Independente de Padre Miguel, em 1981

Adele Fátima – Televisión Nacional in Chile, singing “Olhos Verdes”

Adele Fátima in Cassino do Chacrinha

Source: Globo, Revista Afro

Notes

1. A spectacular or movie featuring humor of the naive, burlesque variety with a popular character. The chanchadas were common in Brazil between the 1930s and 1960s.

2. A traditional and wealthy residential neighborhood with nearly 7,000 inhabitants (2000 census) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.