The Aleixo Council Estate, in Oporto, is a mythical place, to which society tends to attribute an array of tortuous problems. Nevertheless, for the people living there, the estate is a true home, a timeless home, set near the river, with wide and generous views, and no great distress. “Bicicleta” is based on the concepts of neighbourhood and family. Surviving is defined by principles of otherness, which, in such a mythical setting as this estate, occur with inevitable human spontaneity. This is a film about the popular side of life; the way sharing a given space reflects on people's daily lives, creating an interdependency, which spreads news and rumours, and generates both dramatic and amusing situations. After a long search, António is finally lucky enough to find a job. His wife Maria, who always expects the worst, helps him in any way she can, so he can keep the job and bring a wage home. In the meantime, they still have to support António's mother, who is old and ill and on the verge of perishing, and Guilhermina, the couple's daughter, who lives in a world of illusion and children's games. Based on the predictions of Blandina, the building's fortune-teller, the family falls into disgrace with their beliefs and bad luck, which, accentuating their unfavourable work opportunities, lead to an increasing tragic situation. Gorete, the neighbour who sets up her own business - a sort of grocer's, selling from her kitchen window - is the last chance of funding to fight the inevitable despair of António and his family. Through hard moments and funny but cruel episodes, António's story is a representative example of the reality of under-protected workers, who are at the bottom of the work pyramid. It is a reflection on survival instincts and the utmost defence of dignity, which also portrays the Aleixo Council Estate as a vertical town, where the interior of the blocks of flats are seen as vertically aligned streets, where citizens' fates are set quite apart from the so called conventional Portugal.