Plot Synopsis:
The Green Years - Julio, aged nineteen, has just left the provinces to settle down in the outskirts of Lisbon. He lives there in a poor area with his uncle Afonso and starts working as an apprentice shoemaker. At the shop, he gets to know Ilda, a young housemaid and regular customer. Ilda is pretty, joyful and modern and Julio falls for her.
Change of Life - After a stint in the army fighting in Angola, a soldier comes home to find his sweetheart has married his brother. He makes advances towards his sister-in-law, but she turns him down. Discouraged, the man meets a new girlfriend who vows to escape the town's crushing poverty even if she has to steal. The two begin a relationship but the film does not indicate what their future may hold.