After 20 years of exile in Paris, Gustavo returns to his native city São Paulo. Back home, he encounters a place which no longer exists. His old friends and family members have changed, almost beyond recognition. He tries to recapture the past, and make some sense of his life, that of his friends and family, and the present state of his native country.
A woman marries a gambler, thinking she could straighten him up, but he loses all their assets, even their own house, and tries to commit suicide. But one of the winners falls for his stepdaughter, and this could change the situation.
