A gaucho flees from justice for murdering a man with whom his girlfriend was betraying him. He settles in a place where he falls in love with a woman, also desired by the local commissioner.
Two sisters struggle to get out of a Buenos Aires suburb, where debts with a loan shark have kept them apart. But soon the inhabitants of the neighborhood forget their differences before the appearance of an epidemic.
The plot reflects the figure of Pascual Contursi, tango poet. In love with a singer, he leaves his wife and son to go with her. Some time later, the singer leaves him and he composes the tango that gives the film its title.