The picture tells the story of a peasant family from Estremadura who, as many others, lives under and is subjected to the landowning class ruling over them through the control of resources. The members of the family dream with the possibility of escaping poverty, of learning to read and write, to express themselves. Those are the means affording a forward tread. They dare to dream and later they will dare to try. But their life has been a continuous renouncing and obeying. Their fate has been preordained for many generations, and only something violent, entirely new and beyond the daily routine, will smash up the regular life to which they are condemned.