At the end of the nineteenth century, an army force led by Major Mouzinho de Albuquerque, a cavalry officer, imprisoned in Mozambique the tribal chief Gungunhana, who had rebelled against Portuguese government and sovereignty. Mouzinho instantly becomes a national hero but his raising popularity worries the State.
In 1938, at the height of the civil war, the musicians of the military band were very worried about their next concert. Agustín receives a letter from his girlfriend, who tells him about the difficulties he is going through with the rice harvest. She then decides to ask permission to go and help her, but as Lieutenant Urquiza refuses, she escapes. Two companions sent to bring him back, finally, stay with him. Also Sergeant Perez and several musicians who go looking for him stay with them.
Hypocrisy and betrayal are the two dramatic pivots in this effective, emotionally gripping tragedy about the life and death of Paco (Antonio Banderas), a Spanish peasant who had been fighting against the feudal landowning system that kept farmers impoverished. Paco's life is told in flashbacks by a priest (Antonio Ferrandis) who is seen officiating at an anniversary mass attended by three wealthy landowners and no one else. The priest recalls Paco's baptism, his communion, his marriage ceremony and then his work for the peasants as he advocated and led them in a land-reform movement. The rest of the story will rest heavy on the priest's conscience, as he looks out at his empty church.
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