MATO GROSSO
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Synopsis
John Carter always believed he was born in the wrong century. He was raised by his brother, who instilled in John a deep romanticism for the legends of the Texas frontier, the work ethic and spirit of the western cowboy, and the dogged bravery of the American soldier. John grew up dreaming of a world where he could pit his soul against nature so he could forge a small corner that was his very own.
As a young man, he put his cowboy dreams aside to join the ranks of his heroes and fight for his country as an Airborne Army Ranger in Iraq. He was a loyal and effective soldier- driven by a rigid moral code. He returned to Texas changed, shiftless, and consumed by disillusion. He had a rage in him that an unjust world kept feeding, giving him ample opportunities to lash out blindly with an anger that had yet to find a purpose.
John’s opportunity to break free and live out his childhood fantasy comes when he marries the beautiful Kika, the daughter of a Brazilian rancher. Her father, Neco, compels John to take his knowledge and skills to the jungles and untamed forests of the Amazon to manage a ranch that Neco is no longer able to work. Upon his arrival in his wife’s homeland, John finds a world filled with so much beauty but fraught with even more danger. The ranch is so deep in the jungle, so far removed from civilization. There is no water, no electricity, no law. It is a world in flux, one that is being consumed acre by acre by a darkness and a greed; still filled with native Indian tribes, plagued by hostile invaders, corrupt lawmen, and gunslingers who, like the creatures of the jungle itself, are all engaged in a battle for survival. As John puts his hands into this earth, he becomes consumed and obsessed by an uncontrollable desire to protect all that he now possesses, a fire that is fed by all of the forces, both natural and manmade, whose hunger knows no respect for John’s fences or boundaries. Baptized into a new war, John uses all he has to fight off the enemies as they present themselves- in a battle of futility. A battle that can only be won by utilizing the one skill John doesn’t possess: restraint. Can John Carter tame the raging fires within his soul so that he can help find peace in MATO GROSSO?