Brazil, 1961. In the underground of the Piratini Palace, the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Leonel Brizola, awaits a bombing by the Brazilian armed forces. The country is on the verge of a civil war, following the resignation of president Jânio Quadros and the movement to keep vice-president João Goulart from taking office. Using the radio transmitter from his improvised bunker, Brizola sets up the Legality movement, to ensure Goulart's right to the presidential chair. Caught in the crossfire, two brothers who are in love with the same woman unite to fight alongside Brizola.
