When a pedestrian is hit by a bus, the simple clerk Arandir runs and kisses the moribund in a gesture of sympathy and unconditional pure love. Opportunist photographer Amado Pinheiro witnesses the scene and sees the opportunity to sell newspaper and, together with the despicable and abusive chief of police Cunha, accuses Arandir of homosexuality.
A poor man from the North Zone of Rio, head of a family, Roy struggles in every way to survive and accepts a job as a professional laugher on a TV station; Casimiro de Abreu de Sousa lives in a fantasy world in which he imagines himself to be part of high society. His daughter's wedding awakens in Casimiro the desire to achieve everything he has always fantasized about.
