In the 1740s and Spanish Jesuit priest Gabriel enters the northeastern Argentina and eastern Paraguayan jungle to build a mission station and religious conversion a Guaraní people community to Christianity. The Guaraní are not initially receptive to Christianity or outsiders in general, and tie a priest to a wooden cross and send him over the Iguazu Falls. Father Gabriel travels to the falls, climbs to the top, and plays his oboe. The Guaraní warriors, captivated by the music, allow him to live.