This film depicts the life of the 19th-century Portuguese writer Wenceslau De Moraes by means of nine ancient ballads from China. The writer married a Chinese woman after he left his wife and family to go live in Macao. Later, he moved to Japan where he fell in love with a Japanese woman, staying in Japan for the rest of his life. Mixed in with the career and loves of Moraes is the history of Portugal at home and in its colonies.
Luís Miguel Cintra
as Wenceslau de Moraes
Clara Joana
as Isabel / Vénus
Zita Duarte
as Francesca
Jorge Silva Melo
as Painter
Paulo Rocha
as Camilo Pessanha
三田佳子
as O-Yoné
Atsuko Murakumo
as Ko-Haru
Jun Toyokawa
as Asataro
Erl Tenni
as Atchan
Wang Lai
as Chinese mother
