Antonio是个居住在纽约的西西里岛人，虽然他是非法定居，但是他在纽约的日子可谓是要风得风，要雨得雨。他潇洒自如地频繁更换工作，并和一个从事艺术品经销得富婆频频约会。现在他爱上了意志坚定得电台主持人Ellen，Ellen马上要就要出发去巴黎工作，所以Antonio目前正千方百计阻止Ellen离去。与此同时，Antonio的好友Apu，一个印度年轻人也正面临爱情的挑战。Apu千里迢迢从家乡来到纽约来寻找自己的梦想，实现自己的人生理想。刚到美国时他从事了许多艰苦的工作，先是在一家实验室充当药物试验的对象，后又去给色情电影配音。之后他的未婚妻也从印度来到了纽约，从此他的生活一片混乱。他和他的未婚妻是从小定的娃娃亲，当时Apu8岁，她4岁。于是Apu陷入了深深的矛盾，他能和自己的命运抗争，得到真正的幸福吗？本片探索了不同文化背景的冲突。讲述了在岁月的洗涤中，期望和现实，梦想和爱情，金钱，生命之间的关系。

本片在意大利作家Fabio Marcotto的同名小说基础上改编而来。男主人公Giovanni本是一位籍籍无名的银行职员，某次偶遇一位自称“教授”的神秘男子及其同党，饮下一杯红酒之后，他的人生也随之改变，成为一名被天才光环笼罩的红酒鉴赏家与收藏家，一路青云直上。直到他邂逅一名神秘女子，人生又遭离奇突变，他被当做是毒杀前妻的最大嫌疑人。警官Fanfelice同为红酒痴，他逮捕Giovanni后一番夜审，Gioanni向他讲述了自己的神奇遭遇以及与前妻Adele的种种过往。没人愿意相信他的陈述，但是警官发现Giovanni所述的人和事似乎都变成了真的……

In Luz nos trópicos, Paula Gaitán weaves together a dense fabric of storylines, timelines and settings, intermingled with indigenous cosmologies, travelogues and anthropological literature. Initially, the director follows a young man of indigenous origin. At the beginning, he is standing on the banks of the East River in winter. Soon he is travelling upriver through the Brazilian jungle to a village, where he is greeted like an old friend. In a second storyline, the director accompanies a group of European settlers. They are also travelling upriver, collecting, possessing and searching for a position from which they can survey the forest and the river. Some 150 years separate the two layers; sometimes, a dive into the water dissolves this separation in the space of a second. Later on, the film wanders northwards again and the layers collapse into one another. Between Walden Pond and the Amazon lies just a cut.
Luz nos trópicos is an homage to the abundant greenery of the Amazon region, the woods of New England in winter and the indigenous populations of both Americas. A film that is as free-flowing as a winding river.