This film is a faithful reconstruction of a true story.
The places and events shown are the same where, ten years ago...
Catherine Armstrong Miles lived her terrifying adventure.
Today, Catherine lives in London.
At long last, she revealed her carefully guarded secret to an Italian journalist.
She authorized him to make this film.
Ms. Armstrong, tell me about Umukai. What is he to you now?
- Has he become a vague memory? - No. - How you remember him?
He was a man at one with nature.
You said that you loved him. Was it because he saved you?
No, there was more than that.
- But then he left. - He came from a different world.
- He refused our civilization? - Our world was more brutal than his.
I see. Tell me about your trial.
- I turned myself in and... - What do you remember?
The bleakness of the courtroom and how alone I felt.
All rise, the court is now in session.
Please be seated.
Clerk, read the charges against the defendant.
The State of Amazonas versus Catherine Miles...
accused of the premeditated murders of Jose and Mary De Vega...
under articles 25 and 91 of the penal code.
The brutality of the murders constitutes an aggravating factor.
Let's proceed.
Ms. Miles, could you tell us your story?
- You were studying in London, correct? - Yes.
School had just ended and my family wanted me...
to join them in the Amazon to spend the holidays together.
Mom and dad managed some rubber plantations.
We had a beautiful house near the Fuentes River. I was born there.
When I turned 10 I was sent to London to improve my English.
Every summer I couldn't wait to go back to the place of my childhood.
I always thought of it as an immense green paradise...
where I felt free to run and play more than anywhere else in the world.
Were you aware of the presence of tribes of cannibals and headhunters in the jungle?
Yes, but I wasn't afraid. It would have been like being afraid of a lion in a cage.
Go on.
My birthday was the day after I arrived.
I had never been happier than I was that day.
- My baby! - Happy birthday! - Thank you!
- This is from us! - Thanks, dad!
- My old girl! - I'm 18! - You're all grown up now!
You have to excuse me and your uncle. We're poor and we couldn't afford a gift!
- Don't say that! - Oh, it's true...
but we've got something else for you: lots and lots of love!
- You and your parents are in our hearts! - Thanks!
I love you too, auntie.
And here comes your bearded old uncle!
I can't help but kiss the hand of the girl who'll become our new boss one day.
- A rose for the prettiest rose of all. - Thanks, uncle!
It's time for a drink!
- Cheers! - Let's make a toast! - Hurrah!
- That's a vintage bottle. - Good for celebrating.
- She never had a birthday party here! - Enough for me.
- Let's raise our glasses! - Cheers!
That morning my aunt suggested to have a picnic on the river.
Dad owned a beautiful houseboat as well as another boat.
- Such a beautiful day! - Dad, this was all I dreamt about!
We'll use the other boat. I have to leave sooner, there's some urgent work to do!
Here it is. Make sure there's enough gas.
- I'll tell two of my Indians to check it. - We'll take them with us.
Our postal service. They toss waterpoof bags in the water and we fish them out.
They always stop there!
They don't want to risk hitting any cables.
Hello, Mr. Miles! How do you do?
There's a lot of mail for you!
Is this all they do, dad?
No. They also patrol the area.
There's a package for you. I'll bring it in a couple of days.
They collaborate with the police.
We heard there's a party down there, Mr. Miles.
Is Catherine back? She must be a real lady now!
When we're back you can introduce us to her, not many pretty girls around here!
We gotta get back to base. Goodbye!
See you in two days!
It's a lovely gift, dad.
I find it a bit sad, but you know your mother...
There's not much choice in Ciudad Rodaz, you know.
It's beautiful, I mean it.
If you like it... But it reminds me of death.
We have to think about life.
- Nice things you're teaching her! - That's something she has to learn.
- She should think of her soul, too. - You listen to me, kiddo.
Treasure your life, wherever you are.
Good times or bad, never give up. Life is everything.
Live, Cathy. Nothing else matters.
Ever since my sister and her husband started working for us...
they always have servants with them.
Why are they bringing them along? It's just a family picnic.
You could have done that. You were with them at the dock.
I must say thay they run their plantation better than I do.
- He wasn't always good. - That was just bad luck.
And I guess he hasn't got much business sense.
He went broke when his fur trade business collapsed.
But he knows how to run a plantation, believe me.
He could do without us easily, maybe even better.
Is that so? Why don't we leave, then?
I have half a mind to do that for real.
We leave everything to them and go away.
We finally relax, they keep breaking their backs.
They'd still be working for us.
No, my sister would hate that.
Hate what, running our enormous plantation?
She would really hate that, poor little thing.
I think they'd say yes right away.
You know what, I'm going to ask them.
Did you go very far?
Yes, and a large part of the jungle there is still unexplored.
Look, dad! It's so beautiful!
I don't want to go back to London and its pollution!
Don't you want to become a great doctor or a famous soloist anymore?
Speaking of that, why didn't you bring your flute?
What, her flute? Oh, no!
I want to stay here with you. If I return to London...
I'll become a block of ice like everyone else!
By 'block of ice' she means our fellow countrymen.
David, I have an idea. Why don't we go to London for a while?
I'd love some British weather for a change!
Why not?
It would be awesome!
Uncle! Auntie!
I have great news! Mom and dad are coming to London with me!
We're all going away together!
They won't get away from me that easily, I can assure you!
Before this double homicide, did you ever commit any violence...
against the Indians of your plantation?
I object! The question is tendentious, we all know the reason behind the murders!
- This song rocks! - And it's destroying my ears!
- Can you give me a mirror, mom? - This music is so loud!
- Here. - Thanks.
You should use some mosquito repellent, honey.
Let's stop here, what do you say?
Mom!
Ethel!
Dad! Dad!
Run, Catherine! Run!
Why didn't you try to escape since you were only wounded in the arm?
I couldn't. They used curare-dipped darts.
Curare doesn't kill you right away, it paralyzes you first.
I was able to hear and see all the horrible acts those Indians were committing.
But I couldn't even lift a finger.
Why didn't you attempt to escape when the effects of the poison wore off?
I wasn't just paralyzed by the curare.
I was also in a state of total shock.
I saw my parents' heads cut off, perhaps while they're still alive.
I didn't have any energy. I felt lifeless.
I remained like that for a long time.
I acted like a machine. I survived by instincts.
I almost stopped feeling like a human being.
Could you tell us what happened when the Tamuri Indians attacked you?
Yes. They are a rival tribe, always fighting against the Guaimira Indians.
They are Cannibals.
They took us by surprise.
- Nothing yet? - They vanished into thin air. Over.
That's not good, they've been missing for 8 days.
They must have taken the houseboat.
I didn't see it when I brought them that package 5 days ago.
Helicopter to base. We just found the houseboat. It's stuck and looks deserted.
I can see two bodies on the deck. They look dead. Over.
Give me your position. Over.
Twenty miles upriver. Over.
Go down and check the boat. Over and out.
Helicopter to base. It's a horrible sight, the bodies have been butchered.
Send the river police and the coroner.
Calling HQ. The bodies are most certainly the Miles'. They've been decapitated.
Take the bodies away, you could be in danger.
Doctor, quick!
Get the stretcher!
Come on, faster!
- The girl's missing. - Her body will turn up.
If they haven't eaten her yet.
Were you at least aware of how many days you walked through the jungle?
No, not at all.
My feet were plagued by blisters but I kept going. Like a machine.
Then, one morning, we reached the Guaimira village.
It consisted of one large circular hut they call shapun.
Umukai didn't take you right away, then?
No. It was Rumuani, the chief, that decided who got what...
according to the gifts they offered him.
Umukai was young and therefore poor, despite getting a lot of respect...
for being the strongest man and the best hunter in the whole village.
Even Rumuani respected him.
Rumuani saw me as a strange animal, with my hair as yellow as corn...
and my skin as white as that of a newborn tapir.
And I smelled, too. My smell was that of a white woman.
I was constantly washed and smeared with some disgusting oils.
They kept touching me everywhere. I endured it, like I was in a trance.
Did they harm you?
No. Physically, not right away.
They brought me, naked as an animal, into the center of the shapun.
I was about to see Rumuani. All the tribe was there.
Fameteri, the richest man in the village, was offering gifts to Rumuani to buy me.
I somewhat knew what I was risking.
I remember I was sold for a goose, a bush dog and a turtle.
Was it then that you started to endear yourself to Umukai?
No, I didn't do anything!
He wanted me and, being poor, he offered his weapons to Fameteri!
He even offered Fameteri to become his slave!
When Fameteri refused, Umukai challenged him. Fameteri didn't accept that either.
I began sensing the terrible fate that was in store for me.
No...
No! No!
Don't, please!
No!
Stop, please!
Let me go!
No!
No! No!
No!
Let me go!
You filthy beast!
No!
My virginity surprised them.
The tribe artificially deflowers every girl when they reach the age of 4.
Stick to the facts, please. These details are not relevant.
Quite the opposite! They help establish what my client went through.
What did you feel in those moments?
I wanted to die.
But then I could hear my father's words.
Treasure your life. Never give up.
Life is everything. Live, Cathy.
Fameteri didn't rape you, then?
No. In fact, the tribe started treating me as a child.
I took the opportunity to escape.
I wanted to run away from that nightmare.
But to where? Where?
I was surrounded by a green inferno that looked so thick, so impenetrable.
Did you know that it would have been impossible to survive in the jungle?
No. I survived by instincts, I told you.
I felt paralyzed.
Witnessing all those horrors left me mentally drained.
It felt almost like a film, a frightening film...
where I played the leading role.
So the Indians never actually abused you, am I right?
You're wrong. You cannot even imagine.
That same day they tied me down in the shaman woman's hut.
There I was forced to endure to most brutal abuse.
No!
No, please!
No!
Those natives didn't consider it an act of torture...
but rather something to celebrate, just like when they held a ceremony...
to celebrate the deflowering of the little girls of the tribe.
Now I was considered to be a woman.
Fameteri could exercise his rights with me, now that the taboo of virginity was gone.
After being offered a potion they called fertility water...
I was dragged to Fameteri's hut.
- Did he abuse you again? - I fought back.
But after all they did to me, I had almost no strength left.
- I felt like I knew Umukai. - Wasn't he like the others?
- Of course he was like the others. - But you weren't afraid of him?
There's an aura of nobility about him.
I obviously hated him for what he did to my parents.
Come. You woman of Umukai now.
But you".you speak my language?
Yes, but I speak... not much.
You... woman of Umukai now.
How is it possible that a savage in the middle of the jungle...
Luamari was Umukai's sister and she was brought up in a mission...
before the tribe took her back.
Meanwhile, the others started considering me Umukai's woman.
That night they made a funeral pyre for Fameteri.
Being considered Umukai's woman, they made me sit next to him...
to make me witness that shocking ritual.
Seeing the twisted features of my captors through the flames...
it felt like the nightmares I had when I was little.
I couldn't move or talk.
That ritual was yet another part of the living hell I fell into.
Did you perform your sexual duties with Umukai?
Objection! It's defamatory against my client!
No, I will answer the question. Umukai respected me.
Days went by.
I kept thinking about escaping and, to pass the time, I made a crude bamboo flute.
Let me go! Don't touch me, you filthy animal!
You beast, I hate you! Don't touch me!
He only wanted to rub me with an ointment for mosquito bites.
He killed my parents, it was my duty to hate him.
Were they guarding you? Did you attempt another escape?
No. I had the same freedom as the other women, but where was I supposed to escape?
By then, I adapted myself to their customs and started living just like them.
Go away, you little monsters!
Has Garagueri always been like that?
No. He strong. He warrior.
One day, he broke leg.
He is like woman now. And he helps women.
He sad, not happy.
He wants death.
Did he break his leg during a hunt?
- No. Tamuri. - During a fight against them?
Umukai go kill Tamuri.
He strong.
Why you no sleep with Umukai?
He loves you.
And I want to kill him.
Canata means monkey.
During our menstrual cycle we were sent to live in a tree.
We were taboo during that time because we were not fertile.
I took the opportunity to learn some of their language.
Stick to the facts, please. We do not need these details.
When did the murders occur?
Much later.
I never stopped to think about escaping.
But I was one of them now. I was Umukai's woman.
I had to be careful because the tribe had no mercy for traitors.
Adari crazy. She sleeps with other man.
It seems that you were doing better, mentally speaking. Right?
Not entirely. I was still obsessed by one horrible thing.
During one of those periods of isolation...
I did something that the tribe would usually punish by death.
I would have gone crazy if I didn't do it.
Those two ghastly trophies had haunted me for a long time.
I had slowly begun to forget that they were part of the bodies of my parents.
They made me think of some inexplicable horror I couldn't understand anymore.
A horror that was affecting my mind.
I had to get rid of that horror. I had to bury it forever.
I can still remember the punishment they inflicted on Garagueri because of me.
Garagueri knew. He was on guard duty and saw me, but he didn't tell anyone.
Neither did Umukai.
The tribe thought that the trophies had been stolen by enemies.
Their usual enemies, the Tamuri tribe.
Garagueri was punished because he didn't raise the alarm.
Now hold him. Hold him.
Hold him. It will be painful.
Bite down on this.
I hope this can help you.
With his silence, Garagueri saved me.
Besides, the sight of that battered body made me feel terrible.
I did my best to heal him and even tried the impossible to fix his crippled leg.
I don't know where I got the strength to do what I did.
Stop trying to gain the sympathy of the court with improbable good samaritan tales!
I object!
Very well. The defendant will please stick to the salient facts.
They were all important to me.
Trivial or serious, everything was important.
Like when Adari was caught with her lover.
In our society, that would have only been a matter for lawyers.
For them it meant death.
Death in the most atrocious way.
Resigned to death, the woman was sacrificed to Tupan, the river god.
The man was strung up by his feet and left to be devoured by insects.
No! What are you doing?
Leave her the paddle! She'll never have a chance without it!
Kick her out but at least don't let her die like this!
This is horrible!
Stop, it's a death sentence! This is insane!
Adari!
Adari! Jump out!
Adari!
No! Go away!
I understood that, if I ever left Umukai, I'd have died.
Killed by the tribe or dying in the jungle.
My hate for him grew stronger as he tried to get closer.
But I started to understand that he was my only hope to try to escape that nightmare.
Give it to me. Don't be afraid.
Come on.
Did that miraculous recovery help your relationship with the tribe?
Yes, it did. Incredibly.
They believed I possessed magical powers.
But I was still stuck there.
The desire for revenge against Umukai, the murderer of my parents, grew stronger.
On the other hand, Umukai behaved more nicely towards me.
How did you become aware that Umukai...
didn't consider you like the other women in the tribe?
There were many little things.
Sometimes he made me a garland of flowers, something unusual for a warrior like him.
He did it to make me smile, but I was always unmoved.
He was the murderer of my parents.
The rainy season started and I didn't have as much to do as the other women.
Umukai gave me more freedom.
Time passed slowly.
My only comfort was playing the crude bamboo flute I made...
. and thinking about my next chance to escape.
How did you pass the time? Were you always in the village?
No. I worked like all the other women.
I helped gathering food.
When we went fishing we used the tapukane, a liquid extracted from trees...
that was harmless to men but poisonous to fish.
Do you expect us to believe that for over a year in the jungle...
all you witnessed were horrors and atrocities?
No, of course not.
Tell me, Ms. Miles, are you a Christian?
- Yes. - Did you ever turn to God to find comfort?
I told you, at first I felt like an emotionless machine.
It was like to be in a vegetative state.
Then, when I began to wake up, I just started hating everything and everyone.
I hated God, too.
Later, I felt like God helped me.
He helped me and I saw him everywhere in the world that surrounded me.
Yes, he helped me to survive, but even God wasn't able to stop me...
from doing what I eventually did. If that's what you mean, of course.
I had some moments of happiness.
Mostly thanks to Luamari who cared and was always there for me.
She was such a sweet girl.
Being surrounded by that wild yet gorgeous world helped too.
- What is this for? - Tribe... no salt.
This not like white men salt. We burn it... then it's salt.
Enough?
No. It can hurt you.
No. Me pregnant.
- Salt good for baby. - What?
You're pregnant?
Really, Luamari?
Are you going to have a baby?
- Yes. - It's wonderful!
- Is it the first time? - Yes, first time.
I'm so happy!
This is all sentimentalism! Let's not forget that this sensitive young lady...
is here because she's been accused of a double murder!
And let's not forget that this 18-year-old girl probably had such...
big motivations to commit these crimes that she became temporarily insane.
The defence wants to...
You. Man.
No. Woman, me woman.
Woman.
Sky.
Sky. Nakyu, sky.
Sky.
Umukai kept trying to endear himself to me.
He could have abused me, but chose to respect me instead.
I was torn between the admiration I had for him...
and the hate I felt I had to show him all the time.
Please, Luamari, tell Umukai to help me escape so I can return home!
I teach him words... in your language.
Now Umukai understands you.
He loves you.
And I hate him! He's a murderer!
He's a monster.
He killed my parents...
in an atrocious way.
I wish I had the courage to kill him.
You mad.
Umukai not kill your father and mother.
My brother knows. He knows all.
He saw all. He knows who kill your father and mother.
I don't believe it. I saw him there.
Look, a helicopter! It's over!
Help! Save me! Help!
I'm a white woman!
Look, there's more over there.
The more we kill, the more we get paid.
- Look, there's an albino Indian! - They'll pay double for that one!
Slow down.
- Hold it. - Yeah.
They're hiding in there.
Why? Why?
The mining company people will be satisfied. Plenty of kills today.
This land is near the river, it'll be good to exploit.
There's two there.
Why did they want these monkeys killed? Couldn't they just steal their land?
Well, we're pros. More kills, more money.
They could trust us more, then.
Get a move on, I don't like to be in the open. And I don't fancy curare darts.
Give me a rag.
Here.
The sooner we leave, the better.
God, it's horrible!
Good, let's go back to base.
We earned our pay today.
They're not men. They're monsters.
There's only violence in this world, nothing else.
No...
Don't you dare touch me, you filthy savage!
You murderer! You filthy beast!
You killed my mother and father!
No! I not kill!
I saw white men! White men tell Indians to kill!
You're lying! I hate you!
You're lying!
No! Indians kill, not Umukai!
White men!
- White men tell Indians! - It's a lie!
No! No! No!
Umukai says truth. Not kill mother and father.
I knew Umukai wouldn't have been able to lie. Who did it, then?
Who killed my parents?
Who were those white men?
One part of me craved revenge, the other was happy because...
I was finally able to see Umukai in a different light.
You eat.
Look. I have to go there.
Where the sun rises.
Land of white men.
Danger. Death.
Umukai... death.
Umukai! Umukai, please!
Don't die! Answer me, please!
Don't leave me!
Please don't die! Umukai...
Umukai, no...
Umukai...
How do you feel?
Me... good.
Did you steal it?
No... Me took it.
Who from?
Indians who fish.
They'll chase us to take it back.
No. Many canoes... I broke them. All of them.
Thank you.
It seems that your relationship with the savage who decapitated your parents...
turned into a love story.
Objection! This is gratuitous sarcasm!
Calm down!
Please, go on.
Yes, I admit it. Despite everything, Umukai has been my first and so far only love.
He was a real man.
Bright and sincere like the nature that surrounded us.
You didn't fall in love with him only because he stole that canoe?
No. It was what happened later that made me realize how deeply he loved me.
It was when he threw the knife away. It meant that he renounced being a headhunter.
His total dedication to me made me give myself to him.
I convinced Umukai to take me back to my parents' house.
He did it, at the risk of his life.
I just wanted to know who was behind the death of my family.
And I wanted revenge.
I thought it was the only way to get all the horrors I've seen out of my mind.
Who is it?
Who's there?
That switch never worked very well.
Mom wanted to change it.
But dad always forgot about it.
You?
Yes. Yes, it's me. Cathy.
Your beloved niece.
You... Where do you come from?
Straight from hell.
The hell you sent me to.
It can't be! You... you are dead!
Sometimes the dead come back. To get revenge.
Look at him, auntie.
Look at your partner in crime because he'll soon be dead.
Please, Cathy! I'm begging you!
The arrow's poisoned.
Curare. You know how it works, you used it to kill your sister!
Whose idea was it?
Who planned it? You or him?
It was him! It's his fault!
I swear it... I swear it!
I didn't want to...
I've always loved you, Catherine.
You know it's true.
We... we looked everywhere for you...
We looked for days!
Just to make sure I was dead.
It was all his fault! I'm innocent!
And now it's your turn to die.
No! No! I beg you!
You'll still be able to hear and see for a while, but you won't be able to move.
You're going to feel what my parents felt.
You had them killed to take their wealth.
Now you're gonna die like my parents did!
So Umukai did not take part in the murders?
No. He condemned my actions, actually.
Guaimira women are forbidden to kill. It's taboo.
When it happens, the woman cannot be touched by anyone again...
because the god Tupan has cursed her.
Umukai couldn't go against his tribal law.
I understood that.
But I also understood he couldn't have lived without me.
And that's the reason he did what he did.
I loved him.
And I will never forget him.
I want to point out the fact that the defendant turned herself in.
Moreover, following our advice, Ms. Miles didn't deny the facts behind her trial.
However, there's a question we should ask ourselves in order to come to a conclusion.
Could a fragile girl have the strength to cut off two human heads?
I say that she could, if temporarily insane.
I object! We don't have her psychiatric evaluation, and I say she wasn't insane!
Nonsense! How do you think the mind of a 18-year-old girl could have reacted...
after a year of tortures in the jungle?
Ms. Miles herself told us about her desire for revenge!
This is a case of premeditated revenge that excludes temporary insanity!
Gentlemen, I need to remind you where you are.
This court won't stand for personal fights!
- Strike those comments from the record. - Yes.
You may continue but, please, be more pertinent and stick to the facts.
And it's facts I want to talk about!
That's why I'm asking you to show again the film made when the bodies were found!
- We're already seen it! - Before the trial!
- It'll have a different effect now! - It'll only demonstrate her bloodlust!
And the strength no perfectly sane girl would have!
- Only someone insane would have it. - I ask for a psychiatric evaluation!
Gentlemen. I remind you that this court knows the law.
The court accepts the request to show the film.
Your Honour, members of the jury...
What we have just seen is the obvious proof that, even if Ms. Miles...
had a desire for revenge, only someone suffering from temporary insanity...
could have committed such brutal murders with such extreme violence.
Therefore, I ask for the minimum sentence with extenuating circumstances.
She's a victim, not a culprit.
Go away! No journalists here!
The brief film shown during the trial is real.
We have been allowed to use it by the police archive of Ciudad Rodaz.
This is the only existing film of the real Catherine Miles.
It was filmed during her internment in a criminal asylum where she spent 8 years.
It has been given to us by a local photographer who kept it secret until now.
Today, Catherine Miles lives in London.
She's married to an architect named Armstrong.
She never talks anymore of the period she lived with the headhunters.
Or of the murders. Or her time in prison.
Oddly enough, she told her story to an Italian journalist.
She claims to be happy.
Those who know her say she's often distant, as if thinking of being still there...
with the native man who made her fall in love for the first time.
Mom! Mom! Mommy!
Come here! My boat turned over!
No. Catherine has not forgotten Umukai.
He's still a part of her existence.
And she didn't forget that, because he could no longer live with her...
he chose not to live anymore.
What she felt for him has not changed, and he keeps living in her heart.
Are you crying, mom?
No, dear.
Subtitled by Francesco Massaccesi