A war hero forced to participate in a smuggling ring meets a prostitute in the postwar ruins of Manila.
Hassan, the son of a tribe chief of the Badjaos, a pagan, sea-dwelling Filipino tribe, meets and falls for Bala Amai, the niece of the chief of the Tausugs, an Islamic, land-dwelling tribe. Although the Hassan is willing to give up his lifestyle for Bala Amai and vice versa, the Tausugs plot to break up the union of the happy couple.
A stripper and taxi driver are fished out of poverty and anonymity by a commercial film director. The obsession with success forces them to affect images as movie stars, which suppress and eventually destroy them as persons and lovers.
