The Given Word

Zé do Burro (Leonardo Villar) is a poor man who wants nothing more than to keep his donkey alive, and when the animal falls terminally ill he promises Saint Bárbara he will carry a cross to her church in the state capital. The donkey recovers, so he sets out with his wife Rosa (Glória Menezes), hauling the heavy wood the whole way to Salvador. Anselmo Duarte leaves him standing at the church steps, the cross on his shoulder and the door shut in front of him.