In this highly stylized Brazilian drama a sax player fondly remembers one wonderful night spent with his life's love and decides to find her again. He embarks upon a quest through the wild streets of Rio to find her. Along the way he meets an assortment of odd urban underworld characters.
The story of two radically different men thrown together in a Latin American prison cell. One is Valentin, a journalist being tortured for his political beliefs. The other is Molina, a gay window-dresser who fills their lonely nights by spinning romantic fantasies drawn from memories of old movies.
The youngest daughter of a rich man has been raped by five black men in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, and her father arranges her marriage to one of his employees in order to save the family’s honor.
Carlos and Suely are a normal couple. He has some extramarital adventures and she's a standard housewife. During a Carnival, when he goes out wearing a vampire costume, Suely decides to follow a friend's advice and go for it. On Ash Wednesday, he finds her with an odalisk costume on and happier than usual.