Movie Recommendation - The Mission

By Anthony:

I want to recommend that you watch my all-time favorite movie - The Mission.  It stars Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, and Liam Neeson.  This movie I find beautiful, thought provoking, and spiritually edifying.  It is not a perfect movie, and I will explain some of its big problems and historical inaccuracies at the end of this post, below the picture.  But you may only want to read about those problems after you've seen the movie.  So first, let me explain why I like this movie so much and why you should consider watching it.

This movie is filmed on location in Columbia, with stunning scenes of God's beautiful creation of waterfalls and forests.  It's set in the 1700's and is about Jesuit missionaries trying to reach the Gaurani tribe with the Gospel.  But it's not really a movie about missions per say.  It looks at the problematic political situation between the missions, the Roman Catholic Church, the Portuguese, and the Spanish.  It looks at the the slave trade, and even the Church's role in injustice.  There is a fair amount of fighting and war in the movie.  But what will draw most people into the movie is the personal relationships, especially between the two main characters, a slave trader and a Jesuit priest.

The historical situation is pretty complex, so don't be afraid to pause the movie at times in order to make sure everyone is up to speed and knows what is going on.  And google terms as you watch such as "the Jesuit order" or "the Treaty of Madrid," etc.  If you understand the historical situation, you'll appreciate the movie much more.  I advise watching this movie with a group, so that you can help each other understand it and have an engaging discussion about it afterwards.

What I love about it:

• Forgiveness - It has the most beautiful scene of forgiveness in any movie I've seen.
• Martyrdom - I've always been fascinated by Christians, like some in the movie, who are willing to sacrifice their time, and even their lives, for the sake of the Gospel.  There are also Christians in the movie who die while trying to protect the innocent.
• Missions - While unrealistic at times, the movie shows some beautiful scenes of conversion, mission work, and what life can be like when people come to Christ.  It stirs my heart and always reinvigorates me in my call to missions, because I want to see lives changed and people loving God and loving each other.  But the movie is well balanced and shows the good, the bad, and the ugly of missions.  Beyond the overall plot about the injustice, there are certain methods the missionaries use that make me cringe.  
• Monks/Priests - Back in high school, (perhaps partly due to this movie), I used to want to be a celibate monk.  It's nice how the movie doesn't portray the celibate priests as sexual perverts or weirdos.  They are mostly good men who love Christ and have a great brotherhood with each other.  I'm very happy to be married now though :)
• Music - One of my favorite soundtracks of all time.  
• Money - The movie gets into how some of the missions were very communal, sharing all of their wealth in common.  This is not the same as communism, but more like the early church in the book of Acts.  It's good for a discussion topic.
• Ecumenicity - I like this movie because it helps me to appreciate things about our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, though it also shows some of the problems too.
• Penance - This movie will provide you with a moving example of penance, and that can make for a good discussion piece afterwards also about whether Christians should do penance or not, and why.
• Just War vs. Pacifism - This is one of the best movies ever made to make viewers explore and discuss the issue of violence as Christians.  Do we have to always turn the other cheek, never lifting our hands in violence or self-defense?  Or is the correct response to sometimes take up arms to defend innocent children from abuse or death?  After watching the movie with friends, have a discussion about this because the movie does not answer the question for you.

If you do watch the movie, send me an email and tell me what you thought, even if you didn't like it.  And I'll tell you my thoughts on just war theory and pacifism if you watch the movie and email me.

Just some last warnings before you watch it - There is nudity in the movie, especially of the Guarani who were wearing their traditional clothes, so the women are often topless.  There is a fair amount of violence and blood as well.

Also, some might see this as an anti-Christian movie, but to me, this is not the case.  While a main thrust of the movie is to show some of the historical abuses of missionaries and the Church against native peoples, it also shows the good that is there even in the midst of the evil.  And I think it portrays many of the Christian characters very well as likable and heroic people.  And it is good for us to see some of the things the Church has done in the past, so we can learn from it.

See below for my criticisms of the movie and historical inaccuracies (spoilers).

Although this is my favorite movie, I have to be honest about its pitfalls.

First, the film is historically inaccurate in many ways even though the main plot line is historically accurate.  Unfortunately it seems all historical movies take great artistic licenses.  I've read up about the movie and the history online from many sources and found out:

• The Gaurani fought the Portuguese for years, but the priests never joined in the fighting.  
• The real relationship between the missionaries and the Gaurani was much more complex, and much less perfect and idealistic.
• The Gaurani are dumbed down in the movie.  They had a religion that was complex and conflicted with Christianity.  They resisted conversion for years in many places.  They were also not so simple minded as they are in the movie.  The movie portrays them as not very intelligent, always just following around the white people doing what they told them to do.
• The Gaurani were not perfect people, and not "noble savages."  They had sinful natures just like we do.  In fact, many of the Gaurani traded women to colonials in exchange for military protection.  The movie tries to make complicated life into black and white, good people versus evil people.

Other criticisms:

• Although the movie tries to highlight the plight of native peoples in South America, the movie does not give them much of a voice.  There is not one single Gaurani main character in the movie.  This is especially upsetting since the actors and actresses playing the Gaurani in the movie are actually modern day Gaurani.   This feels paternalistic.  While trying to show the abuses Europeans have inflicted upon other races and tribes, the movie, made in our modern times, still does not give them a voice.  It's a movie about white people for white people.
• The priests are over idealized.  They had sinful natures too, but they are portrayed as nearly perfect people, almost Christ-like figures.
• From what I've gathered online, this movie is kind of a push for Liberation Theology in the minds of its makers.  But I think one can still appreciate the movie without getting into that debate.

Even with these strong criticisms, I still think it's a good movie and I appreciate it.  But one should have these criticisms in mind when discussing the movie or recommending it to others.