Review of End of the Spear (2005) by Emery — 16 Jun 2008

**** stars (out of 5).

Directed By: Jim Hanon.

Starring: Louie Leonardo, Chad Allen, and Christina Souza.

Language: English and Waodani with English subtitles.

Synopsis:

This is the true story of a Mincayani, a Waodani tribesman and the Christian missionaries that took it upon themselves to spread the Gospel to the notoriously violent natives of the Ecuadorian jungle. After five young men are speared to death by Mincayani and his fellow tribesmen, their wives and children move in with the tribe in an effort to teach them about forgiveness and spread the word of God. This film is based on the book by the same name written by Steve Saint, the son of one of the men who was killed.

Review:

This is a beautiful film set against a very scenic backdrop. I believe it was filmed in Panama. Although this film has an underlying Christian message, it definitely focuses more on the human interaction between the two different groups. Being a Christian myself, I may be more biased to a film like this but even the most devout Atheist can find value in certain Judeo-Christian ethics, specifically those of forgiveness and "Thou shall not kill." Even considering the faith-driven message, this film is not especially preachy. It is merely a well executed attempt at telling an important story. I thought the acting was quite exceptional, particularly by Chad Allen who portrays two characters.

Overall I highly recommend this film to anyone, regardless of any religious biases you hold. It is a beautiful telling of a very important story of forgiveness,.