Ulrich Mühe plays a German businessman who was born completely without scruples. This makes him an eminently suitable candidate for success in the chaotic years after World War I. The shameless man's story is contrasted with that of his polar opposite, a Jewish anarchist.
Galanga, king of Congo brought to Brazil as a slave, finds gold in Vila Rica, in the State of Minas Gerais, and buys his enfranchisement, the properties of his former owner, and his companions' freedom, becoming Chico Rei, the first black man to own lands in Brazil.
No Brasil imperial, um médico itinerante (Édson Celulari) em suas andanças conhece uma moça acometida de malária (Fernanda Torres) por quem se apaixona, sendo correspondido. Entretanto, o pai da jovem a prometeu para um rico fazendeiro da região e não admite ter sua vontade contestada.
