South of Italy, XIX century. A couple of brigands are chased in the woods. The man has a bounty on his head and is terrified by everything, while the woman takes care of her newborn. They will be safe beyond the river, where they are going to abandon their son to some gang members in order to run faster. But the woman secretly hides the desire to keep the baby...

In the time of the "cangaceiros" in the badlands of the Northeast of Brazil, the cruel Captain Galdino Ferreira and his band abduct the schoolteacher Olívia, expecting to receive a ransom for her. However, one of his men, Teodoro, falls in love and flees with her through the arid backcountry chased by the brigands.

Shinkichi, a peasant employed as a cloth-dyer, has a dream: in the midst of the civil war which ravages Japan, he hopes to revive the long-banned custom of the Kyoto Gion Festival, and by doing so, bring together the warring clans and rampaging brigands in peaceful celebration.