| When the Caravan Rolidei rolls into town, Cico, a young accordionist loses his heart to the traveling caravan's sultry Salome, the Queen of the Rumba, and joins the carnival, taking with him his pregnant wife as his only chance to change his small town existence. Led by Lord Gypsy, the King of Magicians and Clairvoyants, the troupe travels to each small village and beach town, encountering fellow travelers, adventures, vagabonds, Indian chiefs and hustlers along the way. As they travel, Cico becomes more and more infatuated with Salome, a woman too hardened to return his love. However, when the carnival ends, Cico realizes his responsibilities to his wife and newborn daughter. The two couples part, each coping with a new Brazil in which the archaic and the modern, tragedy and beauty, and the past and the future, all coexist.
A hypnotic road movie with an upbeat political kick. Filmed over 9,000 miles, Diegues' film effortlessly conveys a sense of a living, breathing country as few films have before. | 
