Review of The Mission (1986) by Jan D — 02 Jun 2009

Despite taking up too much of an apologetic stance on the question of the Jesuit (and overall Christian) appropriation of indigenous culture in South America, this wonderfully directed movie explores the questions of loyalty, attachment to one's ideals and the struggle against the imposition of external tyrannical power.

Certainly, the missions were no utopian recesses conceived for the good of the indigenous people (in this case, the Guaranis) but rather theocratical enterprises subtly directed by the invasive will of God, imposed on unwilling tribes who had to cope with the lesser of the evils that had been brought by the treacherous European ships.

Moreover, two different types of religious penetration are presented here: the foreign institutional religion (the Catholic Church) which too easily compromises with the Crowns of Spain and Portugal, and the rather more genuine (though more fanatical) Jesuit order.

A remarkable quotation, which stands out as a mocking and repugnant admission of guilt, is that produced by the representative of the Church when he states: "I had to wonder whether these Indians would have not preferred that the sea and win had not brought any of us to them".

This is what I've always believed, the imposition of Christianity on indigenous tribes who were better off without our egocentric claim to civilization was a crime in history, and the Jesuits were no lesser perpetrators of it.

The final scene, where the little girl picks up the violin from the flotsam is remarkably allegoric as to what the presence of the Jesuits here was: merely an ongoing swansong, whose captivating music could not hide the harm it directed at the land and its people.

A truly remarkable piece of art, though, despite the enticing tale it tells of, will not lessen my contempt for Christian religious orders and their pretence of "educating" the "animals".