This epic Brazilian film was based on the equally epic novel by Antonio Callado. Set between 1954 and 1964, the film's focus is the saga of Jesuit priest Nando. Fed up with civilization, he ventures deep into Amazon country to live with and work among the Xingu Indians.

Nhô Quim has only one dream in his life: to eat red meat. He meets Carula, a young woman anxious to get married, who promises him that in their wedding her father will kill him an ox. But, before that, Nhô Quim must pass a series of tests.

Elisa is a journalist who becomes romantically involved with Hugo, a director of the company Jota Mineração, when she receives an order to write a story about the company. However, the relationship between the two begins to destabilize when the company that Hugo runs begins to extract gold from indigenous lands.

In the portuary zone of Santos, São Paulo, a prostitute teams up with an unemployed stevedore while looking for a better life.