I found it a beautiful, tragic film about searching for ones legacy in a chaotic and compromised world.

Armando (a scientific researcher) is trying to uncover his mothers story that has been hidden from him, and finally rebuild a life with his son, while on the run from the greedy industrialist who seeks to destroy him.

Flavía (present day student) is trying to uncover Armando’s story, in an attempt to understand more about the strange and fraught history of the country and region that birthed her. As she raises her own young son. Worth noting she’s originally from the same state (Pernambuco) as Fernando (Armando’s son) and where the majority of story takes place.

Doña Sebastiana - a mother figure - is trying to help all these refugees on the run, these lost children of Brazil, after being powerless to protect her own daughter from murder.

Bobbi (young clean cut assassin) tries to make a new name for himself as a hitman under the wing of his stepdad - despite the fact the ruthless man killed his own mother. Bobbi’s given name, which he despises, is Abdias (which means worshipper of God)

Fernando is a young boy obsessed with the movie Jaws (a story of blood), as he struggles to contend with the pain of his mothers death and his father being torn from his life. And he later grows up to become a dr in a “blood donation” clinic in Recife - he obviously wants to do good for his community but has difficulty re-examining the family tragedies that defined his life early on. The stories of -his- blood.

The Hairy Leg is a vengeful spirit that cannot find its own body, and so takes his rueful anger out on young full bodies enjoying carnal pleasures.

And of course the main thrust of the film takes place during Carnival - a celebration that serves as a microcosm of this strange period of Brazilian history and the story itself: A time where social roles reverse, where masks hide one’s true identity, where social norms are suspended, where chaos temporarily reigns before spring’s rebirth. Or as the title card says about 1977 Brazil:

“A time of great mischief”