In the small town of Taperoá João Grilo and confusion Chicó live setting, addressing a sacristan and a humble baker. Everyone lives under the excesses of the bishop, the priest and the major. Until an attack on the city, all die at the hands of the bandit Severino and must stand trial in the sky, which puts everyone before God and the Virgin Mary.

Regina, a lonely 65 year old who works on the neighborhood watch for the police in Copacabana, believes to have witnessed a murder in the building across the street, and ends up getting involved with the suspect in a potentially dangerous chain of events that will force her to take stock of her life.

巴西导演Luiz Fernando Carvalho的故事片处女作，171分钟的长片。情节和主题意味深重：通过一个离家出走的年轻男孩子，讲述了巴西乡间，一个虔诚的基督教家庭的悲剧。这家庭，太充满爱意，太圣洁，太有序、太美好了，连镜头都沉于安稳之中，流动于井然安详的条理，静穆在神圣的威严之下。而那欲望、那热情，太炽烈，太狂放、太撕心裂肺，它暴露在过分的特写之中、摇曳在离乱的剪辑之外。永恒不变的是悲剧的主题：无望的情欲、无知的物欲，终于摧毁了一切的安然与恬美；游离在疯狂凌乱之外的，只有时间与泥土。