Synopsis:
The film begins when a couple, Sarah and Hamish, travel by the Menkuang river to a small trading station deep in the heart of the jungle. The year is 1924. The trading station consists of a...
The film begins when a couple, Sarah and Hamish, travel by the Menkuang river to a small trading station deep in the heart of the jungle. The year is 1924. The trading station consists of a collection of faded timber houses, a small jetty and a storehouse. The rain forest envelops this whole setting with a humid, oppressive heat making this outpost heavily claustrophobic. For here in the jungle nature rules. The river rises and falls with the rain, and when the river is dry there is no means of access or indeed escape. The jungle is home to a local tribe with whom the station deals in the ugly trade of ivory.
Sarah and Hamish have escaped the depression of post war Europe and are here to make their fortune and find peace. Sarah is a 40 year old woman. She seems strong and idealistic. Hamish is in his mid twenties, a surveyor by trade, and an idealistic joyful dreamer. He is deeply in love with Sarah and believes in the possibility of a life only previously imagined. But the trading station is a sad disappointment to Sarah and Hamish, for it is not the shining town of their romantic idyll, however they decide to make the best of it for the next six months. By then Hamish will have earned his money from surveying the land, and the boat will make one of its twice-yearly visits and carry them away to their bright new life.
The station is run by Mrs Jones, an aged widow with an iron fist and a stubborn nature. She is aided by her nephew Norton and her 35-year-old son, William. Mother and son have never had what you could call a close relationship. In fact, William is the disappointment of her life, which she never lets William forget. As the film opens, however, William is almost happy, for after many years his mother has finally given her permission for him to leave. He is to return to London with the boat delivering Sarah and Hamish.
But William's mother suddenly changes her mind and refuses to let him leave the station, something he is incapable of doing without her financial support. Completely shocked the only comfort William can find is with his old nanny, Erina, a woman who offers what little kindness there is here.
Forced to stay William begins to be fascinated by Sarah. His romantic life has never been realized, but Sarah seems to waken something in him. With Hamish away from the station surveying the land William is eager to further a friendship with Sarah. But his mother's patience is running out, and she decides to make her nephew, Norton the overseer of the station. This decision brings William's hatred to an unbearable pitch, and seeing no other way out, he kills her. Coldly, calmly and ritualistically.
The murder has an enormous effect on the community. Believing it to be the work of savage natives, fear takes hold of everyone and tension and paranoia begin to creep in. Hamish, back from the jungle, finds comfort and peace in Sarah's arms. Together they manage to forget for a moment the dire situation they find themselves in.
Worse is yet to come when William's guilt is unearthed and all the money he has now inherited is burned. The trading station is poor, something he dare not reveal and things carry on seemingly as normal. However, with his mother gone, he can now freely pursue Sarah, and he orders Hamish back into the jungle for longer and longer periods of time. But Hamish, though young, is not without a certain steel, and in order to complete the job with fewer men, he makes a deal with William for a large amount of money. Unaware their promised wealth has all been burnt Sarah and Hamish celebrate their new found fortune. It is now, in a drunken amorous evening the effect of Sarah's unhappy past makes itself felt, and the two cling together in an agony of understanding.
However work must continue and Hamish is once again sent off into the jungle. But for Sarah the nightmare is only just beginning. Erina tells her the money is gone and with it all Hamish's chance for a future. Devastated Sarah realizes they are trapped, and losing the last shreds of hope she sinks into a heavy sadness. Meanwhile Hamish, pushed too hard by William, succumbs to a vicious swamp fever. He is brought back to the station almost near death and Sarah is shocked out of her melancholy by his dangerous state of health. She attempts to seek help from Erina, the only one out here who knows about medicine, but the old nanny has conditions. In exchange for saving Hamish's life Sarah must for a few nights pretend to love William and fulfill his every desire. Erina also offers Sarah all her hidden savings. Faced with such a choice she spends a night under the trees as the long awaited rains finally come.
This ill-fated liaison unfolds during the rain filled days in a strange manner. Sarah's disgust for the undertaking contrasts strongly with an awkward innocence displayed by William. It has obviously been many years since he was last close to a woman and he opens his soul to her. Sarah does not return this sudden openness, but is moved by the clear loneliness of the man.
Misunderstanding her compassion William mistakenly believes she shares his love and he all but devours her with a voracious appetite. This twisted meeting somehow touches Sarah and despite herself she responds to his lovemaking. Afterwards, disturbed and lost Sarah denies any love for William and goes to find Hamish, leaving William sad and broken.
Unfortunately Hamish, only just up from his sickbed, has been a witness to a part of their evening. Weak and still feverish his mind cracks and there is a dreadful meeting. Confronted with his anger and sense of betrayal Sarah confesses the sad truth about the deal. But Hamish had witnessed in Sarah's union with William a kind of passion they had never shared. Faced with Hamish's pain Sarah tries to give him her whore's earnings, but he refuses the money she has sold herself so hard to get and she realizes there is nothing she can do to explain herself. Devastated she leaves him.
But for William there is nothing left for him, and he shoots himself. As Sarah runs into his house and finds him, Norton is close behind her. Seeing her still clenching the money he accuses her of stealing it from William. But Sarah is not willing to give away the hard earned money, and she refuses to hand it over. As Norton begins to methodically beat her, Hamish arrives, threatening him with his gun. For a moment it seems Hamish will shoot Norton and frantically Sarah tries to stop him. But Hamish is lost to reason and cannot hear her. In desperation Sarah begins to rip the money into shreds as Hamish looks at her with the beginning of understanding in his eyes. The rain has swollen the river and Sarah and Hamish sit silent and numb, watching as the returning boat comes into view. -- © IFC Films
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