After Japan invades Taiwan in 1930, the native Seediq people are in danger of losing their culture and way of life. The men are taken from their traditional lives as hunters and forced to perform hard labor at low wages. The women are taken away to be household workers for the Japanese. The Seediq are also forbidden to tattoo their faces, which many believe is necessary to cross the 'Rainbow Bridge' after death. The Seediq men plan to go to war against the Japanese to fight for their freedom.