In a city in the Brazilian northeastern backwoods, the political chief is assassinated by a professional gunman. From there, the city begins to live the climate of the event. The killer, concealed by important people, is hidden in the house of a humble family. Time passes and the gunslinger leaves his hiding place, being killed soon after. Also the family that hid the criminal is assassinated, as well as the judge who was conducting the investigation of the murder of the political chief.

In the Brazilian countryside, poor sharecroppers join a messianic group led by Joaquim, who believes he is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Gaining power over the peasants, he begins to persecute those who do not pay absolute obeisance.

In colonial Brazil, boy is sent to live with some parents in a sugarcane plantation, after losing his mother. His adaptation will be difficult and painful. A young boy goes to live with his grandfather on a Brazilian plantation after his mother dies. Haunted by the memories of her violent death, the boy slowly adapts to his new surroundings until death, marriage, and the passage of time breaks up the family. Only when the boy is old enough to experience his first love does he leave to attend a city school.