Cruel and brave Brazilian outlaw called Corisco, living in the backcountry in the Northeast, an arid region, rapes 12-year-old Dadá, who becomes his woman, following him and his gang. Although they were supposed to fight against social injustice, they terrorized the small villages along their way.

Aroeiras is a fictional city in the northeastern interior of Brazil where Genésio lives. Old, widowed, retired and childless, he fills his loneliness drinking and dreaming of the nostalgic heroism of cangaceiros (northeastern outlaws) and the love of Rosália. His friend Baltazar, a peasant leader, does not believe in myths of the past. He believes that organized political struggle is the only possible way to change things and he is looking for new ways to fight the powerful.