The Mission (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Hated It!
Review: Unfortunately, I was forced to watch this movie for my World Cultures class. I really hated it, although it had its good moments. I didn't see the point the whole movie;it went it circles! I wish the writers could have found a better way to get to the point.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Para-Historic film
Review: Although with short drama, very close to real facts, based on historic and full of realistic details, more suitable for latinamerican than european and northamerican people. I would rate this film 8-stars. A must for those who really want a serious analysis of why latinamerican people stays in the ir current status.

Rating:
Summary: An Instant Movie Masterpiece
Review: The Mission is one of the greatest visual, mucial, and acting films ever pulled off. With Irons as a priest building a mission in the secluded jungle to a group of natives. De Niro is dynamite as the once heartless hunter into a priest. They are torn between each other when they learn the mission is to be destroyed and the natives taken to slavery. Masterfully created in every way possible.

Rating:
Summary: A beautifully filmed, superbly scored, and finely acted film
Review: Altough at times it is slow, the mission achieves a magical effect primarily through truly awesome cinematogrophy by Chris Menges. The single greatest sequence in the movie is when Irons shows the church repesantative the progress of the mission, accompanied by Ennio Morricone's lovely score, the humanity slowly lightens the represantatives face . Only moments later, he would reveal to Irons that he intends to remove the missions anyway . Heartbreaking.

Rating:
Summary: Irons'performance carries the movie.
Review: Jeremy Irons is one of the finest actors working today, and he makes his character in The Mission totaly believable. The sign of a great actor is that one cannot tell he is acting. DeNiro may be miscast in his role, but the other actors, the cinimatography, the soundtrack, and the story make this a thoughtful work of historical fiction.

Rating:
Summary: A Timeless Story of Civilisation
Review: The impact of the movie's theatre release, has stayed with me to this day. I regard this as "my movie of all time", due to the emotional impact of the story, the visual interpretation of the Director, and combined with the powerful, stirring and, at times, fragile music that comes together to "move" the audience to a deeper understanding of social issues. It is not just another example of mans' inhumanity to man, but it tells the story of a peace-loving, indigenous tribe of people caught in the path of civilisation pushing to the corners of the earth - and all the selfish traits that society brings with it. The story is repeated over and over in modern times, where popular belief overrides those of minority opinion with the usual destructive force engineered by man himself. Excellent direction, superb performances by de Niro and Jeremy Irons, the producers should look seriously at releasing this movie on DVD for our home enjoyment.

Rating:
Summary: Reseña Crítica
Review: Esta película era asombrosa. Los hechos de esta película se basan en épocas históricas pre-coloniales y tiene lugar en una zona de lo que ahora es Argentina, Paraguay y Brasíl. El propósito principal de esta película son los misionarios que se han establecido en América del Sur para ayudar a "civilizar" las culturas de los indios. El punto principal demuestra que aunque los jesuitas intentaban ayudar a los guaranís, todavía no habían parado a los españoles y portugueses de conquistar su tierra. Era un mensaje muy fuerte, y la película estaban llena de emociones intensas de una perspectiva moral pero también de una perspectiva humana y de la naturaleza. Creo que el director hizo un trabajo justo de retratar cada perspectiva de los grupos. También creo que aunque esta película tiene casi 20 años todavía tiene un gran impacto en la luz de los problemas que están ocurriendo hoy. Elogio a Joffé en su esfuerzo de educar a más gente sobre las condiciones que los indios tienen que aguantar.
Es muy importante en este día y edad para que la gente entienda más de las culturas de otras sociedades. Para que el mundo prospere y continúe teniendo éxito, la gente debe aceptar el hecho de que otras culturas son parte del conjunto. El mundo sería más pacífico si la gente abriera sus corazones y mentes para aprender más cosas más allá de las paredes de su propia cultura.
Recomendaría fuertemente que profesores utilicen este vídeo no solamente en clases de español sino también de historia, sociología, psicología e igual posiblemente clases de la religión.

Rating:
Summary: the beauty and the horror of the catholic church
Review: i think tom keogh's a bit 'off' kilter and it echoes the reviews that came out when the film was released.
the charge of emotional vacancy has since been rendered somewhat mute by the films growing status.
now admittedly, the overriding emotional sense that most people seem to experience when seeing this is one of anger, rather than one of tragedy and ,yes, that is partly due to our never really getting to know the indians who are, predictably, massacred.
we are emotionally more jolted upon seeing the murder of the priests who we have gotten to know.
that aside, i think joffes direction works because what he is attempting to show, and succesfully does so, is both the beauty and the horror of catholicism.
there is a touching beauty upon seeing deniros character finally reaching his muddy penneance,and in the scene where he cooks a steaming stew for his fellow priests.
perhaps one of the most beautiful, simplistically effective moments is when deniro narrates first corinthians 'love is not puffed up'.
yes, the conclusion is all too predictable. not just because we know the history, but because as much as we all can see the beauty in the church, everyone is also well aware of its ugliness.
i am suprised that the catholic church showed its support of this non flattering film, which shows, perhaps, a certain amount of theoretical penance on its part.
one of the last scenes which shows two naked indian children aloft in a boat after the massacre is an example of a picture telling a thousand words.
in one sense mr keogh is correct in recognizing an inherent coldness in the film but i think that is a realization of the harrowing cold heartedness that catholic church has shown in its history, which paradoxically is unified with its undeniable beauty.

Rating:
Summary: A hint of REALITY!
Review: "The Mission" was an excellent film that tells the story of the injustice that the Guarani faced in South America because of the cruelty of the Portugese and Spanish settlers. It is a story of the Guarani people and their human rights versus the rights of the church and of the powers in Spain and Purtugal. Well casted, Jeremy Irons plays a jesuit priest who colonizes with the Guarani in order to christianize them and make their lives "better." His mission is to salvage their humanity and protect them from the cruelties of the Spanish and Portugese crowns who wish to take over their land. But is he really their savior? Robert DeNiro plays the perfect role of the harsh slave trader gone good. His determination of penance makes the audience almost feel sorry for him. If not for the actors, watch the movie for its cinematography. The scenery is absolutly beautiful! The camera finds a healthy balance between nature and man's bad intention. It will teach you a lesson in history that you will not soon forget!

Rating:
Summary: Letting the Story tell the Story -- A Fine Film
Review: There is a historical and sorrowful story about how colonial imperialism and a church more concerned with its political power than its charge to protect its new native converts, lead to the destruction of a South American Indian tribe. This movie captures that story powerfully through an excellent mixture of dramatization and historical faithfulness.

It is to the credit of the film that it avoids coming off as moralistic, judgmental, or naively black and white. This is not to say that this is not a clash of good and evil, it is. Slavery is evil. The church's shift from offering true sanctuary to the hunted natives to abandoning those sanctuaries is evil. The political struggle between Spain and Portugal that creates the opening for the slavers to resume their trade is evil. But would it not also be evil if the intercession of the church resulted in the destruction of its ability to do any good elsewhere? The film avoids characterizing this latter concern as of no consequence, but its narrative shows that the wrong decision was made.

Another moral issue that arises is the choices two Jesuits make when they decide to resist the church's decision to abandon the Indian sanctuaries. One, a former slaver and mercenary, chooses to lead the natives in battle. The other, to whom the maxim "God is love" is the foundation of his worldview, chooses to lead the natives in prayer. Here again, however, the film does not treat the correctness of either choice as a foregone conclusion. You feel sympathy and understanding for both paths.

A closing dialogue captures one of the movies' messages. A governor is consoling a Bishop who is not sure he made the right decision about the native sancutaries:

Governor: "Your emminence, thus is the world"

Bishop: "No, thus have we made the world."

The acting is superb, the cinementography is truly beautiful, and the message is conveyed through the narrative rather than through preachy dialogue. This set also includes welcome features, including a full-length director's commentary and a documentary that visits the South American location and the plight of the natives there.