In the tiny poor town of Asa Branca, in the middle of Brazilian Northeast, Roque Santeiro is worshiped as a saint. He was supposedly killed by a bandit, 18 years ago, trying to save the local church. After his disappearance, local leaderships such as landowner Sinhozinho Malta and mayor Florindo, took profit on that to control the humble population. They even make up a widow, Porcina, who should have married Roque secretly before his death. What they don't expect is that Roque is alive, and he's back to, allegedly, "save his people". Now Malta, Florindo, Porcina, and others must hold him down and explain the "truth" to their commoners, in a desperate attempt to save their own bottoms. Meanwhile, mysterious facts surround Asa Branca, such as a Werewolf, a film crew who are trying to shoot a movie about Roque's story, and violent murderers.

When the child Manuel wanders into a garden that is off-limits to him, he meets an unidentified fisherman, and another boy -- the boy is actually himself several years down the road. Manuel experiences three different versions of his encounters in the garden, revealing that fate can have several twists and turns in one's life, depending on decisions that are made early on.

Country boy arrives in Rio de Janeiro, looking for a better life, but he finds it extremely difficult to get a job, and even has to work as a pimp in order to survive.

Simeão is a good and simple man but a little too lively for a small city in the middle of Brazil. The most respectable citizens of this town start to think about how they are going to kick him out.

This Brazilian film is set during the period of its initial colonial discovery and settlement. The title refers to a word the native peoples used for the coastal lands: "pindorama," or "place of the small trees." A ponderous and grandiose film, it was roundly booed when it was aired at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival.

Young congressman Miguel Horta represents a party that is directly opposed to the present government. He slyly switches parties in order to gain favor with those in power, seriously compromising his own ideals and ethics in the process.