It stars Débora Falabella, Danton Mello, Osmar Prado, Patrícia Pillar, Cris Vianna, Celso Frateschi, Milton Gonçalves and Zezé Motta.

Pro-slavery Monarchists and anti-slavery Republicans confront themselves in Araruna, a small fictional town in the interior of the state of São Paulo, in 1886, two years before the promulgation of the Lei Áurea ("Golden Law"), that abolished slavery nationwide in Brazil.

Even as a child, Sinhá Moça already confronts her father and, with Rafael's help, at the age of twelve, they untied Dad José, who dies in their arms.

Rafael is going to talk to his mother, the slave Maria das Dores, who asks her son to keep a secret; nor is the Baron aware of his paternity.

Barão Ferreira de Araruna believes that Rafael is the son of his cousin Aristides, mistress of Maria das Dores.

Some time later, with the death of Aristides, Maria das Dores will inherit a house and good money, enough to buy her freedom and that of her son Rafael.

Sinhá Moça cries a lot with Rafael's farewell and will console herself with Bá, a slave who nursed her since she was baby, and who had her son stolen by Mr. Ferreira as soon as the child was born, out of sheer evil.

She lived in a boarding school with her friends four years ago, against her father's wishes, who thought she should get married early and have many sons to run the farm.

Sinhá Moça and Rodolfo, along with other defenders of freedom, invade slave quarters at night and let the blacks free, giving them to the abolitionist associations, which guide them towards the new life.

On the other side of the story is Dimas (who is actually the boy Rafael, ex-freed slave), who returns to Araruna, very powerful, wanting revenge, with his obstinate fight to destroy the Baron.

Juliana and he will live a great love, and both, together with Sinhá Moça and Rodolfo, will move heaven and earth to destroy the Baron and arrest all the slave owners.

The novel was recorded with an image, which looked like cinema or high definition TV, was edited with computer graphics in post-production, to gain a cinematic effect.

In addition to the colonial farms in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, a scenic city with 8,868m2 was also made at the Projac - Globo's main Base, in Jacarepaguá.

At first he had been chosen to live the protagonist of Cobras & Lagartos, but the author Benedito Ruy Barbosa made a point of the presence of Bruno in his novel.