João en het Mes plot
João, an old Brazilian cowherd and jaguar killer, widower with an adult son, marries a young woman. According to the land, she must be completely submissive to him. Jealous as he is, João takes her to a lonely farm and even banishes his son. Despite this, he leaves his young wife alone for four years, because he wants to get rich mining rubber in the Brazilian jungles. When he returns, his wife has moved in with her mother and there is a child that he is not sure whether or not it has been adopted. João, now well off, buys a knife and takes his wife on a boat trip.