A trama inicia em 1886 e apresenta a família Sabino Machado, moradora de So Paulo e proprietária de diversas terras para explorao de ouro e minério, além de investimentos em telefonia. Todos embarcam em um dos navios mais seguros da época, o Albatroz, rumo à Europa. Dom Sabino (Edson Celulari) planeja a viagem para conhecer o estaleiro que comprou na Inglaterra e manter a fi...
Ambientada no Rio de Janeiro, entre os bairros de Copacabana e Tijuca, a novela tem como trama central o roubo milionário ao tradicional hotel luxuoso Carioca Palace e seus desdobramentos na vida de cada um dos envolvidos, sejam eles hóspedes, suspeitos ou convidados do grande baile de gala. O dono, Pedrinho Guimares (Marcos Caruso), herdou o hotel da família e nunca o viu com...
Adriano is a senior historian and opposed to violence. He decides to become a jailer to follow in his father's footsteps. With the arrival of Abdel (Kaysar Dadour), a dangerous international terrorist, to the prison where he works, the tension increases while provoking two opposed criminal factions. Adriano will have to face a rebellion - as well as put Abdel's footsteps under ...
Violeta (Alessandra Negrini) is a 40 year old attractive dentist. Her husband Djalma (Otto Jr.) has been giving thought to his life and marriage while going for a swim and has come to the conclusion that he's going to leave his wife, kids and the city. Violeta finds out about this in a phone message just hours after making love to him and heading out for her work day. She decid...
位于圣保罗的卡兰迪鲁是拉美最大监狱。长期超负荷关押七千名犯人的卡兰迪鲁环境恶劣，俨然一个自有体系的犯罪社会，监狱中简陋的医疗设施无法避免犯人之间传播疾病，一位医生来此实施防御艾滋病的医疗计划，由此揭开了众多犯人过往的经历……毒贩兹克（Wagner Moura 饰）在进入监狱后本打算洗手不干，然而环境再次把他拖入毒品的漩涡；犯人“女士”（罗德里格桑托罗 Rodrigo Santoro 饰）在监狱中爱上了医生的助手，最后成婚；抢劫犯米罗被妻子背叛，怒而连杀多人入狱；流浪汉海尼斯为爱情犯下了纵火的罪行。一幕幕人间悲剧汇聚在卡兰迪鲁，压抑的人群最终爆发出一场令人瞠目结舌的监狱暴动。
本片根据1992年发生在巴西的监狱暴动事件改编。
艾米丽（卡雷·奥蒂斯 Carré Otis 饰）是一名初出茅庐的律师，性感中又透露出一丝纯洁的她是许多男人们心目中朝思暮想的女神。一次工作中，艾米丽和搭档克劳迪娅（杰奎琳·比塞特 Jacqueline Bisset 饰）来到了以奔放和热情著称的巴西里约热内卢，在这里，会有怎样非凡的经历等待着她们呢？
一次偶然中，艾米丽结识了名为詹姆斯（米基·洛克 Mickey Rourke 饰）的男子，詹姆斯英俊又多金，浑身上下都散发出一股诱惑的气息，巧的是，詹姆斯似乎对艾米丽十分感兴趣。被詹姆斯的魅力所折服，艾米丽不自觉的一步一步向他靠近着，殊不知，此时的自己已经陷入了詹姆斯一手打造的情欲漩涡之中无法自拔。
拉丁美洲某国的监狱里，同性恋猥亵犯莫利纳（William Hurt 饰）与革命组织领导人瓦伦丁（Raul Julia 饰）共处一室，闲暇时莫利纳讲述一部电影的剧情聊以解闷，这部老电影中包含的纳粹观点让瓦伦丁明显不适，但随着两人的相处，瓦伦丁渐渐理解了莫利纳的立场。由于瓦伦丁身份特殊，狱方暂停对他的拷打，改为用旁敲侧击的方式套取情报，而莫利纳也是他们计划中的一环，这段时间里，莫利纳同狱方周旋获得些许好处，并最终让自己离开了监狱，被释放前莫利纳借蜘蛛女的故事表白了心迹，同时也将自己推入危险的边缘……
本片获1985年戛纳电影节最佳男演员奖，1986年奥斯卡最佳男主角奖，英国电影学院奖最佳导演奖等多项专业褒奖。根据曼努·艾尔普伊格的同名小说改编。
