The Mission is a film that tells the story of the conflict that occurred between a Jesuit mission against the Spanish and Portuguese during the 1750s. The film begins with a Spanish mercenary and slaver, Rodrigo Mendoza, returning home from an excursion. He arrives to find that his lover is now in love with his brother. As a result, he kills his brother in a sword fight. His extreme guilt from killing his brother leads Mendoza to become a Jesuit priest as penance. He follows a fellow priest, Father Gabriel to Paraguay to a mission for the Guarani Indians. This mission is a sanctuary for the Indians. They are able to work and live in peace and without having to fear for their lives because their location is under Spanish rule. However, during Mendoza's stay, the Treaty of Madrid is passed. This redistributes the land granted to Spain and Portugal. The mission would then become under Portuguese jurisdiction and the Portuguese allowed the enslavement of the Indians. The Jesuit priests and the Guarani decide to not go down without a fight. Mendoza teaches the Indians how to fight. They are soon attacked by Spanish and Portuguese officials. Mendoza and his makeshift army fight back but are mostly unsuccessful. Father Gabriel refuses to fight as it would go against his vows. He stays with a group of Guarani singing hymns in the midst of the battle. The majority of the priests and Guarani are killed, including Mendoza and Father Gabriel. However, a few children are able to escape into the woods.
One of the broad themes seen in this film is good vs. evil. The Jesuit missionaries in this film are the obvious good side, while the Portuguese slavers are the evil side. However, in this case, good does not prevail. The evil side is the one that comes out victorious in the end. Another broad theme is that of redemption. The main character, Mendoza starts out in the film as a mercenary and slaver. He makes a decision to change his ways and actually becomes like a brother to same group he was once persecuting. He even gives his life in order to protect him, and he is able to die a noble death doing a good and sincere deed. We also see some elements of the individual versus society. The individual here would be Mendoza and his mission versus everyone else. They seem to be alone in the world but are still going to fight for what they believe in. They can't even get the Cardinal to support their side.
I think one of the main goals of this film was to educate people on an interesting historical event and to do so in a way that would capture the audience's attention. The Mission is a very informative film and it is based off of real life occurrences. The movie is based on the events surrounding the Treaty of Madrid which was enacted in 1750. In this treaty, Spain gave up part of Jesuit Paraguay to the Portuguese.
This movie, however, has its share of historical inaccuracies. The filmmakers play into black legend and white legend. The use of black legend is seen in the Portuguese officials and slavers. White legend is personified here in the Jesuit priests. The film shows the Jesuit priests defending the indigenous groups to the point of death. In reality, while the Jesuits did try to defend the Guarani, the Jesuit priests abandoned the converts before actual fighting began. The Guarani actually fought for themselves in a three year long war with the Portuguese. Which leads us to another inaccuracy. The period of fighting portrayed in this film is very short. It seems as though the European officials come one day, kill practically everyone, and the issue is settled. But in real life, the conflict between the Guarani and Portuguese lasted much longer and was much more drawn out.
In conclusion, I would say that this is a fine historical film. It is not perfect as it does contain some accuracy errors but that is probably in order to make a more interesting movie and to create a more epic seeming battle. But as a whole, it does help to teach its viewers about a major historical event, the Treaty of Madrid, and goes to show how poorly the indigenous population was treated after the arrival of Europeans, all of which really did happen. And it is able to do so in a very moving way.
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