Customer Reviews
History is not dead by repetitive and cycliical 
2008-09-27
A film that comes from so far away 22 years ago that the story, or the history, of the film is no longer important, but was it important even in 1986? Today the struggle between the two Christian kings of Portugal and of Spain on one hand, though hostile to each other when the other party is absent, and the church on the other hand, a church that is also divided between the European hierarchy that only sees the survival they have to go through in Europe by defending there their interests by sacrificing a few missions in South America. Today these details are irrelevant The Christian church or churches have long abandoned this kind of policy, particularly the Catholic church. But today the general pattern of the story, the massacre, the slaughter, the slaying of a whole Indian, local population to the sole interest of the colonial powers who try to put their hands on the riches and resources of some foreign countries, like oil in Iraq for instance is quite a familiar story. And what about that American war hero who became an American war hero in a war that killed several million people and devastated a whole country for the sole political and economic interests of one country, one country alone. Who cares in the west about the local indigenous population that gets killed by western bullets? Like The Sons of The Pioneers used to sing, "Lie Low, Little Doggies, Lie Low on the Ground". We are living in a world that stands upside down in two ways. It is still standing upside down if we consider normal human ethics that tells us to help the poor and the weak and to respect the goods and property of other people, particularly their national territory. And yet that world that is upside down is in the process of tilting over and then getting upside down a second time, which might bring it upside up and downside down. The champion of deregulated free market jungle economy is nationalizing most of the American banking system and is getting ready to do the same with the car industry that has been playing with bankruptcy for quite a few years now. Less state he says the candidate of the party of this president. Yet this president nationalizes all that is getting into difficult straits by their own fault, but he does not forget that public money is the property of the rich since they did not contribute much and he is trying to give them a financial bonanza for their dumb incompetence. You see the pattern. That pattern that is still alive like hell and kicking like a dumb mule. Don't worry, as usual, before the world gets back to upright many people will be killed and will die. Before Brazil got a president that is starting the reversal of that historical injustice and mistake of 1750, quite a few millions were killed or enslaved or tortured or assassinated or whatever provided death was the end of it. But this film gives you another element of that pattern. The powerful who plan to genocide you manage to present the whole matter in such a way that you have to agree to foot the bill which will hurt you or otherwise the depression that would ensue would not only hurt, it would bring humanity a few hundred million individuals down, lower and shorter. And in the back of their heads they believe that this is sustainable since for at least twenty or thirty years the overpopulation of the world will be slowed down. As these vultures would say: there is always a positive point in any negative event. But the more I try to think positively the more I stand on the side of all these priests, these Jesuits, those who fought and died fighting and those who did not fight and died trying to bring God's word down on earth. The only thing that came for all of them was bullets, bullets and more bullets. Is that pattern human, historical, or plain characteristic of one particular period? But why does it come back up so regularly through the centuries?
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
DeNiro & Iron's Mission 2008-06-30
I first saw this thought-provoking film on the big screen in 70mm and believed it to be one of the best films of the 80's. Unfortunately the film opened to disappointing business in the U.S. but did much better in Europe (It received a Golden Palm at Cannes). DeNiro and Irons each give excellent performances of 2 men caught in conflict over the problems of church vs state in the colonization of the tribes in the Americas. Many people thought this to be a religious film but it is far more than that. Rather to divulge a lot about the plot, I would rather imply that this film is a triumph in the sense that it is action filled spectacle that makes us think rather than just entertain us. It's too bad that director Roland Joffe has descended nowadays to doing a slasher film with an American actress (Elisha Cuthbert). Anyway do see this film for the direction, the stars and of course, the evocative score by Ennio Morricone who should've won the Oscar that year.
My thoughts on The Mission 2008-05-09
I had to watch this moving in a spanish class I took in college. I believe the movie has a powerful story of showing how the Spainards and Porgues conquored the indians of Brazil. I think it can relate to England and other European countries conquoring the new world. This moving did make me tear up at the end when they massacured tribes.
The Mission 1986 - Post review 2008-03-06
This movie was compelling & full of breathtaking scenery in Columbia which was based upon the Indian tribes in the upper regions high above cascading waterfalls, to be converted by Christianity. Robert De Niro & Jeremy Irons were the leading characters of this beautiful movie which encapsulated the heart in a spellbound though dramatic conclusion. I found that these actors put more emphasis on the culture of the tribes people and their way of life which was combined to give the audience a sense of warm embrace towards the suffering and cruelty acts which occurred between the late 1700's to the early 1800 year period. A MUST HAVE for any serious Movie Buff who wishes to transcend back in time to a civilization rich & full of culture. 5 Star rating applicable.*****
The reviewer's got it wrong! 2008-02-18
Tom Keogh's editorial review got it wrong. This is a magnificent movie. The background is historically accurate. The music, much of which was written by South American composers during the 17th century, is flawlessly performed. The story is gripping, and one comes away with an accurate picture of what was going on at the time. It's one of the best movies I've seen in many years.
It seems that not many customer reviews agree with Tom Keogh.
Bravo for "The Mission" 2008-02-15
Sweeping and visually resplendent The Mission is a powerful action epic about a man of the sword (Robert DeNiro) and a man of the cloth (Jeremy Irons) who unite to shield a South American Indian tribe from brutal subjugation by 18th-century colonial empires. It reunites key talents behind The Killing Fields: co-producer David Puttnam director Roland Joffe and cinematographer Chris Menges. Winner of the 1986 Cannes Film Festival Best Picture Award the film earned seven Academy AwardO nominations* (including Best Picture) and won a Best Cinematography OscarO. Robert Bolt's throughtful screenplay and Ennio Morricone's rich score won Golden Globe Awards. The Mission is screen storytelling that weaves a haunting spell.Running Time: 125 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 085392349722
The Mission 2008-01-24
This movie is one of the few movies that demostrates what God is asking from each of us. To love one another. Still today politics is so far more important..so they think it is.
This movie is touching, loving, and shows how much one person can help so many people. One of my favorites of all time.
The Mission, Spieth, Velez, Mortensen 
2007-12-11
This movie is accurate for showing the culture of the Jesuits, for example; their lack of material possessions. The Jesuits taught a great example of repentance in the way which Mendoza took upon himself the task of carrying a bag of armor up the mountain to be forgiven and receive the privilege of being a Jesuit.
Altamirano`s way of teaching was through love. He showed that the culture and ways of the Guarani was not important to receive the message which he carried. He wasn't willing to fight against the government because they were his brothers. He had such a love for his church that he was not going to break the laws of the Jesuits and fight. He was killed as a priest, showing his faithfulness to God.
This movie portrays the misuse of government power. Governments are to serve the people. The people of the Church have to follow the counsel of the Government. In some cases it`s appropriate for church to resist the government. A great conflict in many countries, as shown in this movie, was the governments lies, and misuse of power to obtain what they wanted; control over the church.
The movie developed very slowly. It took a while to build up the characters and theme to show the plot. The themes shown in this movie were: love of man, wars between church and government, and religious protection. The actors of this film did a great job of portraying the emotions of the Jesuits, Guarani, and government officials. When the Guarani child sings you can see: the fear in the Guarani's faces, anger of governmental officials, and peacemaking of the Jesuits. A striking scene is when the Guarani mothers were forced to abandon their children.
gorgeous to watch 
2007-11-23
I saw this movie in the theatre when it came out, then again when the DVD first came out, then again last year. The first time I saw it I loved this movie as I did the second time. The third time I was wishing it could be edited abit more. Some scenes seemed endless. I watched it with my brother a few yrs ago and about came to blows over it. He made some very anti-Catholic remarks that hit me the wrong way. So I guess those with other eyes will each reach a different conclusion. We will be watching it soon with a friend who is an indigenous person from Bolivia. I will be very interested to see his reaction. I also watched the movie with someone from India. They knew nothing of this history.
The story is touching and to me asks the question "Is pacifism or violence the answer to evil"? And it doesn't give you the answer. The scenery is truly breathtaking.
I would recommend the movie but you probably need to be in the right mood to watch.
I really enjoyed watching the extra disc with how they made the movie. Found it as interesting as the movie.
Harrowing but magical 2007-10-26
This is certainly a fine piece of movie-making...but it is not a feel-good movie. Beautiful, tragic, harrowing would be more the words. If you just read a brief description that it's about the troubles of Jesuit missionaries in South America in the 18th century, you will NOT get the idea!
First off, it may not sound very dramatic: well, that gets sorted out pretty quick at the beginning, with the launch of the crucified man to his death down the turbulent river and over the huge thundering waterfall, and then the intrepid priest struggling up sheer water-soaked rocks above a drop of hundreds of feet...And his first encounter with the painted and arrow-bearing tribe - wonderful.
But as the movie progresses, and the Jesuits build their jungle mission, and the unspeakable Don Cabeza reminds us how truly horrible colonial expansion could be, we are plunged into a maelstrom of good and evil. It's the world as we would love it to be and occasionally glimpse it, based on love and integrity, versus the world as it is...or, as the Cardinal says at the end, how we have made it. Greed and power versus simple naked humanity.. guess who wins.
Although the Jesuits are presented as the "good guys" here, there is a point where the Cardinal (I think it's him) acknowledges that the Indians would have been happier and better off if the sea and winds had not brought ANY of the white race to their shores - which is pretty much true of North America as well.
As I say, a beautiful but not cheering movie. The director's commentary is worth hearing - he actually sought out one of the few hardly-contacted tribes and involved them in this movie. Was that a good thing? who knows. An intriguing sidelight is his mention that they took some members of the tribe to London and New York. After a while the tribe said they wanted to go home. In our cities, they respected our skill with stone, but there was far too much of it: they liked their own skills with the living world, the plants and animals. Our world was oppressive.
