An old couple gets married. She’s a gatekeeper, he’s the boss of a dredge boat. Melita, the niece, falls into the river and is saved by António. Carolina feels jealousy. On a train, a gypsy, Zé dos Ouros, wants to sell a necklace to Mélita. He sees the innocent young woman’s past: in a previous life she would have killed her lover and painted her love room with his blood. Frightened, the gypsy flees. Carolina goes after him and ends up becoming his lover. She wants the gypsy to unlock her secret, explain to her what she saw. While old António feels more and more attracted to his niece, Carolina dreams, he sees everything in blood red. A look at jealousy in its multiple forms through romances, riches and murders with the bloody banks of the Rio do Ouro as a backdrop.

Presented at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.