Description
British photographer John Bradley is assigned to photograph wildlife in the Thai rainforest. John attends a boxing match in Bangkok with a woman who becomes frustrated and walks out on him. An unidentified man then follows John to a bar and confronts him with a knife, but John turns the weapon against the man, kills him and flees.
The next day, John rents a canoe and guide to take him down river into the rainforest. The guide, Tuan, mentions his concerns about traveling so far down river and John agrees to head back after one more day.
John falls asleep and awakens to find Tuan dead. A native tribe captures John in a net and carries him to their village, where the chief, Luhanà, is told that they have captured a large fish-man. John is then hung in the net from a pole and witnesses the execution of two war criminals by the tribe, who is at war with another more primitive tribe of cannibals, the Kuru. John labels his captor tribe as murderers.
Hanging in the net for hours, John attracts the attention of Marayå, the daughter of the chief, who convinces her father that John is not a fish-man, just a man. Luhanà agrees to release John as Marayå's slave and locks him in a shack, where Marayå's governess Taima, an English-speaking missionary child, tells him that he will be released, as Marayå will be soon married to Karen. Luhanà interrupts and unties John because it is the day of the Feast of the Sun. When a helicopter flies overhead and John attempts to be rescued, he is subdued by warriors who nearly kill him, but Marayå intervenes. John then plans an escape and Taima agrees to help.
A month later, a building accident kills a young laborer. As John watches the funeral ceremonies and is shocked by the rituals of the natives, Taima tells John that now is his time to escape. He does, but Karen and a group of warriors corner him and he kills Karen. Afterward, the tribe incorporates John as one of them, putting him through rituals and torture until he is released and accepted as a warrior. He uses his knowledge of modern technology and medicine to help the tribe but then becomes an enemy of the tribe's witch doctor. John and Marayå become fond of each other and are soon married. The two consummate, resulting in her eventual pregnancy, but a black butterfly flies over the two lovers during conception, portending doom.
Six months after John's capture, he has finally accepted his new life with Marayå. As John and other village warriors stave off an attack party of Kuru cannibals who are consuming a young girl, John participates in activities he had once condemned. When he returns, Marayå has fallen ill from the pregnancy and has been stricken blind, and he decides to take her back to civilization for modern medicinal treatment. Taima helps them escape, but she is caught and punished, while John and Marayå are forced to return.
Marayå goes into labor and John rejects the help of the witch doctor. The Kuru return to attack and set fire to the village before John and the other warriors can react. John takes Marayå to safety until the cannibals withdraw, and when he points out a black butterfly overhead, Marayå reveals that it signifies death. Marayå dies following childbirth and John wanders through the jungle, reminiscing about her. Another helicopter flies overhead and, after a moment of contemplation, John takes cover with the rest of his tribe.
A photographer in the rain forest is captured by wild natives, and after months of living with them, he marries the chief's daughter and helps protect the village from a vicious cannibal tribe.
