Laços de Família

Helena, a businesswoman aged 45 who lives in the neighbourhood of Leblon and owns a beauty clinic. She is involved in a car accident with Edu, a 25-year-old doctor who had just graduated, in front of the bookstore owned by Miguel, on the eve of New Year 2000. When taken by Edu to the bookstore to be attended by first aid, she arouses the love of Miguel.

Miguel is a man and is widowed who leads a quiet life with his two children. The rebellious and irresponsible Ciça, the youngest of the two, objects all actions taken by her father and, while being quite immature, she loves her family. Paulo, the eldest, suffers from a severe neurological disability due to a car crash that killed his mother. He follows treatment with the physical therapist Isabel, who is secretly in love with him. But capitu has his full attention.

Edu and Helena soon become involved in a controversial love story. They are stigmatized by members of the family because of the wide age gap (20 years) between Helena and Edu. The main obstacle is Alma Flora, Edu's overprotective aunt, who tries to keep her nephew away from Helena. Being unable to have children, Alma takes care of Edu and his sister Estella as her own, often interfering heavily in the personal lives of the siblings. She also manages the fortune and the farm which they inherited after the death of Edu and Estella's parents. They all live in a mansion in the neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca, along with Danilo, Alma's fourth husband. Danilo is portrayed as a bon vivant and quite a womanizer, repeatedly attempting to seduce Rita, the housemaid. Rodrigo is in love with Alma, and dreams of being her fifth husband.

The farms owned are attended to by Pedro, an arrogant, tough and nasty man who has a passion for horses. In the past, he was romantically involved with his cousin, a young Helena. Today he is married to the florist Sylvia. After several bouts of jealousy, he gradually loosens his ties with Sylvia. He gets to know the new veterinary, Cíntia, and after many conflicts between the two, he begins to like her.

Helena has two children. Fred, the eldest, is an unemployed engineer. His wife is Clara, a rich girl who married young and cannot adapt to a life of financial difficulties. The two have a daughter, Nina, who provides an excuse for Clara to convince Fred to rent an expensive apartment for only three, when they could have been living with Fred's mother Helena. Helena's youngest child is Camila, a Literature student at Oxford, England. She meets Edu on a trip to Japan, while the young man is visiting the country with Helena. On her return to Brazil, she develops a strong bond of friendship with Edu, since the two are the same age and have similar tastes.

Later, Camila and Edu realize they are in love with each other. Both try to resist out of respect for Helena. The latter progressively realizes that her boyfriend has been seduced by her own daughter. Furthermore, Edu's aunt Alma dislikes Helena and does everything to catalyze the romance between Camila and Edu. After many discussions and quarrels, Helena breaks away from him so that Edu and Camila can enjoy their love story to the fullest. Discovering that Helena is single, Miguel decides to conquer her, and successfully does so.

One character who does not welcome the relationship between Camila and Edu is Iris, half-sister of Helena. Their father is the old Aléssio, who is married to Ingrid, Iris's mother. Iris moves to Rio de Janeiro to live with Helena after the death of her mother, shot in a gas station while trying to save her daughter of by thief. Iris claims that Helena's daughter, Camila "stole" her mother's boyfriend, and she tries many tricks to try to split them. Iris herself is in love with Pedro, who sees her as a spoiled little girl. Her rival is Cintia, to whom Pedro is physically attracted. Iris tries to separate the couple through several schemes. She manages to awake the heart of the young Fábio, who falls for her.

Yvete, Helena's best friend confidant, is married to Viriato, a chubby man who enjoys life. He suffers from impotence and, unable to relate sexually with his wife, is getting depressed.

A turning point occurs when Camila becomes pregnant with Edu's child, while Miguel is on the verge of proposing to Helena. This is all shattered by the discovery that Camila suffers from leukemia and that she has lost the baby she was expecting. To save her, she desperately needs a marrow donor, as she and her half-brother Fred are not from the same parent. Helena then reveals the paternity of her daughter: Camila is the daughter she had with Pedro. She enjoyed sexual intercourse with Pedro when both were young and as a consequence, was expelled from her father Aléssio's house in the countryside. Only Yvete and her were aware of this secret. Wishing to save her daughter from the illness, Helena has a child with Pedro in order to save Camila.

Meanwhile, Capitu is a university student and call girl, an activity she practises with her friend Simone. Both are controlled by Fernando. Capitu, with her salary, supports her parents Pasqual, a retired intellectual who works as a book reviewer for Miguel, and Ema, a housewife and seamstress. She used to be romantically involved with Helena's son, Fred. However, for various reasons, the latter disappears from her life to marry Clara. For the love of Fred, Capitu decides to leave prostitution. But before that, she is stuck a living hell, as Orlando, a former customer, is obsessed with her, and is trying to get her back into a life of prostitution by constantly harassing her. Furthermore, the parasite Maurinho, who is the father of Capitu's toddler son Bruno, is always after her in attempts to get money. One day, Miguel's son Paulo comes across Capitu and falls in love with her; his shyness and lack of confidence prevent the young man from confessing his feelings to the object of his love.

• Vera Fischer as Helena Lacerda
• Reynaldo Gianecchini as Eduardo "Edu" Monteiro Fernandes
• Carolina Dieckmann as Camila Lacerda Ferrari
• Deborah Secco as Íris Frank Lacerda
• Tony Ramos as Miguel Soriano
• José Mayer as Pedro Marcondes Mendes
• Marieta Severo as Alma Flora Pirajá de Albuquerque
• Alexandre Borges as Danilo Menezes
• Giovanna Antonelli as Capitu
• Luigi Baricelli as Frederico "Fred" Lacerda Ferrari
• Regiane Alves as Clara
• Soraya Ravenle as Yvete
• Helena Ranaldi as Cíntia
• Lília Cabral as Íngrid Frank Lacerda
• Fernando Torres as Aléssio Lacerda
• Leonardo Villar as Pascoal
• Walderez de Barros as Ema
• Zé Victor Castiel as Viriato
• Flávio Silvino as Paulo Soriano
• Júlia Feldens as Ciça Soriano
• Júlia Almeida as Estela Monteiro Fernandes
• Daniel Boaventura as Alex
• Henri Pagnoncelli as Orlando
• Thalma de Freitas as Zilda
• Umberto Magnani as Eládio
• Marly Bueno as Olívia
• Xuxa Lopes as Glória Azambuja
• Paulo Figueiredo as Rodrigo
• Flávia Guimarães as Ana
• Juliana Paes as Ritinha
• Carla Diaz as Rachel
• Vanessa Machado as Simone
• Ana Carbatti as Aline
• Eliete Cigarini as Sílvia Mendes
• André Valli as Onofre
• Beatriz Lyra as Cleide
• Caco Monteiro as Gervásio
• Cláudio Gabriel as Severino
• Paulo Zulu as Romeu
• Cléa Simões as Irene
• Yara Lins as Nilda Soriano
• Denise Sartori as Ofélia
• Luciano Quirino as Laerte

The telenovela's soundtrack gained popular and critical acclaim for its blend of Brazilian Bossa Nova classics and contemporary English language pop and country music. In many cases, the songs are associated with one or several characters of the telenovela and can be heard when this character appears in the plot.

• "Corcovado" - Performed by Astrud Gilberto and João Gilberto (opening theme)
• "I'll Try" - Performed by Alan Jackson (associated with Pedro)
• "Breathe" - Performed by Faith Hill (associated with Cintia)
• "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" - Performed by Shania Twain (associated with Cintia)
• "Samba de verão" - Performed by Caetano Veloso (associated with Helena and Edu, sometimes with Camila too)
• "So Nice (Summer Samba)" - Performed by Bebel Gilberto (associated with Camila and Edu)
• "As Time Goes By (song)" - Performed by Jimmy Durante (associated with Miguel)
• "Balada do Amor Inabalavel" - Performed by Skank (associated with Edu especially when he is driving along the Rio de Janeiro coastline)
• "Baby" - Performed by Os Mutantes (associated with Camila, Helena and Edu)
• "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day" - Performed by Morcheeba (associated with Iris)
• "Love By Grace" - Performed by Lara Fabian (associated with Camila when she is hit by cancer disease and loses her baby)
• "Spanish Guitar (song)" - Performed by Toni Braxton (associated with Capitu and Fred)
• "The Look of Love" - Performed by Dusty Springfield (associated with Alma)
• "Let's Face the Music and Dance" - Performed by Diana Krall (associated with the city of Rio de Janeiro)
• "Gotta Tell You (song)" - Performed by Samantha Mumba (associated with Estela)
• "When I Fall in Love" - Performed by Rick Astley (associated with Paulo)
• "Gatas Extraordinárias" - Performed by Cássia Eller (associated with Danilo)
• "How Insensitive" - Performed by Laura Fygi (associated with Miguel)
• "Como Vai Você" - Performed by Daniela Mercury (associated with Camila and Helena)
• "Save Me" - Performed by Hanson (band) (associated with Camila and Edu)
• "Devolva-me" - Performed by Adriana Calcanhotto (associated with Clara and sometimes Helena)
• "Próprias Mentiras" - Performed by Deborah Blando (associated with Iris)
• "Peão Apaixonado" - Performed by Rionegro & Solimões (associated with Pedro, Iris and more generally scenes shot in rural settings)