Sílvia Nogalis, a renowned concert pianist, prefers her career to her marriage. On the night she performs Beethoven's "Appassionata", she learns of the death of her husband, maestro Walter Hauser.
Aquiles Taveira is a civil servant harassed by his own family's financial demands. Tired of it, he decides to fake an embezzlement at his work and runs away to the seaside resort of Guarujá, where he manages to live peacefully, for too short a time.