Based on a true story, Angela is a Brazilian drama that follows the tragic tale of socialite Angela Maria Fernandes Diniz. As per the real events, Angela Diniz was fatally shot by her boyfriend, Raul Fernandes do Amaral Street, at her beach house in Rio de Janeiro. Angela’s troubling life and her passionate love story with Raul became the central focus of the story, highlighting the journey of these two most controversial characters in Brazilian history.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happened To Angela Diniz?
Angela’s existence has always been marked by several controversies, making her character appear like a seductive and a dominating woman. She was famously known as the “Panther of the Minas” and even called a “dangerous separated woman.” She was married at a young age, to her ex-husband, Milton Villas-Boas, but their blissful married life didn’t last long. After nine years, Angela divorced her husband. However, she never gained custody of her three children. One of the notable controversies in Angela’s life was her caretaker’s death at her house. The caretaker, whom she might have had an affair with, was found shot in a very compromising situation, with a knife in his hand. Angela confessed to the crime of shooting the man in self-defense.
Furthermore, Angela’s name was then caught up in a criminal record when she took her daughter with her without her ex-husband’s permission. Her ex-husband accused Angela of kidnapping her daughter, making it harder for her to see her children more often as she had lost their custody. Furthermore, Angela was charged with drug addiction. A large quantity of marijuana was found in her house, making it impossible for her to prove her innocence. However, after all this, when she was finally looking to settle down, she crossed paths with Raul, aka Doca Street, who was a married man at the time. Angela and Doca Street were passionately in love with each other, for which Doca Street renounced everything in his life. He left his family and his children only to be with Angela, who then decided to relocate to a beach house in Praia dos Ossos, Búzios.
Angela depicts a tragic story of the socialite and her lover’s togetherness. In reality as well, the couple wasn’t quite happy with each other. After moving into their house in Praia dos Ossos, Angela and Raul used to fight over everything. Even though we have very little knowledge about the reasons for their arguments, the film made it obvious that Raul might have had controlling behavior toward his lover. He never wanted Angela to wear something revealing while other men were around. He even wanted to control her each step, asking her not to attend parties and not having friendships with her former partners or friends. Though it’s a matter of question whether Angela was faithful to Raul, the film depicts Angela as a woman who fought for her love.
After watching Angela, we empathized with her, seeing that she had worked hard on that relationship with Raul. She didn’t want her lover to leave her because she already had baggage from past traumas. She never got a relationship where she could be herself, and Raul also failed to provide her that feeling of safety, but Angela was in love with the man, which prompted her to protect the relationship at any cost. However, it was doomed. Angela could not adjust to Raul’s increasing violence towards her, which broke her heart and eventually helped her decide that she should move on from the relationship. She asked Raul to leave her house, but Raul, who had some sort of delusion that the woman belonged only to him, shot Angela four times, three times in her face and once in the back of her head.
What Happened To Raul Fernandes? Is He Dead?
Raul Fernandes do Amaral Street was a violent person who never realized the concept of love. Firstly, he left his family to be with Angela, forsaking his responsibility towards his wife and children. Meanwhile, the hypocrisy of society back in the 1970s was astonishing. When Angela was divorced, she had always been criticized for her decision to live on her terms, but the scenario changed when Raul left his family for Angela. He soon began to garner sympathy for being manipulated by Angela into doing it. After he shot his lover at her house, Raul came up with the argument that he shot her to defend himself. He said that Angela became frantic and threw a briefcase at him, so to defend himself, he picked up the gun and shot her.
After the horrific crime, Raul was sentenced to only two years of imprisonment in the legitimate defense of honor. Meanwhile, his lawyer presented the victim as a dangerous femme fatale who was violent against Raul. Even after the death of Angela, she was criticized for the number of affairs she had in her life. However, Raul’s symbolic prison sentence made a huge stir among the feminists, who protested against the injustice to Angela. Through a public prosecutor, the decision was appealed in court. The feminist movements continued to raise their voice, claiming “Lovers Don’t Kill,” which put immense pressure on the law and justice system. The court finally accepted the decision and eliminated Raul’s defense of honor claim. He was further sentenced to 15 years in prison for the horrific crime he committed in a fit of rage.
Raul, also known as Doca Street, died at the age of 86. After his release from prison, he continued to maintain his innocence, saying that he shot his lover in an act of self-defense. Even during his prison time, he started writing. After his release, he published his book “Mea Culpa: The Testimony That Breaks 30 Years of Silence,” in which he noted down everything, starting from his first meet-up with Angela, falling in love with her, and the eventual tragic story. Raul lived his life and, with some notoriety, gained fame by monetizing the story of the horrific crime he committed. Many people believed his version of events and blamed the victim, belittling her. This is the tragic reality of our world, where many people are quick to judge a woman’s character, justifying her killing instead of blaming the man who committed the crime. We cannot ignore the issue by blaming it on the generation, but the truth is that there are many examples of such incidents even in the present day.
