An earthly paradise

Rating: 7/10 (10 February 2008)

"The Mission" is a movie about the events between Spain and Portugal in the 1750s. There's much at stake as one country rules the South American colonies with the purpose to convert the natives and make peace while the other has the view of slave laboring and genocide. They decide to make an agreement; the Spanish sells the colony to the Portuguese putting many natives' lives in danger.
Two character's are thrown into the mist of it, a Jesuit priest (Jeremy Irons) whose in construction of building a mission with the natives and a Spanish mercenary (Robert De Niro) who seeks freedom from his past sins. The story contains many controversial topics such as: redemption, salvation, forgiveness, murder, discrimination, peace, and war.
The story in my opinion was overall decent, but pretty much anything I have seen, such as: The Last Samurai and Dances with Wolves. Robert De Niro in my opinion is no more than the action hero. I love De Niro's work, but his role in this was nothing as grand as some of his other works with director Martin Scorsese.
The real genius was Jeremy Irons. I have only seen him in a handful of movies, but this is by far the one he gave the best performance for. One of the most compelling scenes I found in the whole movie was when he first encounters the natives. He gets surrounded by an army of angry Indians; instead of retaliating he sits calmly on a rock and plays a beautiful tune with his flute, leaving his audience bewildered and tamed from seeking his blood.
But the main reason why I give this movie a 9 out of 10 was from its captivating film-making. The shots from the beginning of the waterfalls to the ending passage on the river were amazing. The cinematography by Chris Menges (who won an Oscar for the film) was far by excellent, adding a heavenly feel to the atmosphere. In addition, Ennio Morricone's score not only supported this beautiful vision of an earthly paradise, but it also made it feel real. How he did not get an Oscar for this, is beyond me. I felt like I was pulled into the film, as if I was there. Taking my eyes off the screen was nearly impossible. This is not my favorite film, but it is certainly a wonderful one.