Plot

Brazil 1821. A rich cattle herder finds out that his wife dies in labor. Forced to live in the property with numerous African slaves, he marries his wife's niece. But he returns to droving, leaving his wife behind alone with the slaves.

Diamantina Mountains, Brazil, 1821. A slave trader, ANTONIO, returns to the decadent, but imposing farmhouse he inherited to discover his wife has died in child birth. Confined to this desolate property in the company of his demented mother-in-law and numerous slaves, he marries his dead wife's niece, BEATRIZ, a child of 12. A restless soul, he returns to his trading expeditions, and leaves his child wife behind. The loneliness of the big house in the rugged landscape mirrors that of its inhabitants. Each one has been displaced from his original home and forced into co-existence. The undercurrents of violence and prejudice, which still plague the Brazil of today, accelerate the inevitable tragedy which, in turn, heralds the tides of change.—Producer

Upon returning from a trading expedition, Antonio discovers that his wife has died in labor. Confined to a decadent but desolate property in the company of his aging mother-in-law and numerous slaves, he marries his wife's young niece, Beatriz. Forced to marry the slave trader, young Beatriz faces physical and emotional unrest beyond her years. Separated from her family and left alone on the rugged farmhouse in the Brazilian mountains, Beatriz finds solace in the displaced and oppressed inhabitants around her.—Music Box Films