Falls short

Rating: 6/10 (20 June 2009)

In 1750 the Treaty of Madrid ceded parts of the Spanish territories in Brazil to Portugal. In those territories were several independent Catholic Jesuit missions that had been established to bring Christianity to the local Guarani tribes. One such mission, the San Carlos, is presented in this film as being hugely successful, where the priest, Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons), has brought the Indians out of the jungle to create a near paradisaical community. The tribe lives in harmony and views its priest as the bringer of good, and adores him--smiles and warm feelings all round. This is the first problem I had with the film. Any clash of cultures is bound to create frictions; indeed at the beginning of this movie the very Indians that Father Gabriel has so won over had strapped their previous priest to a cross and sent him to his death by setting him afloat above falls some 200 feet high. It was not clear to me what special talents Father Gabriel had that would not only reverse the existing animosities but endear him to the tribe to the extent that he was venerated.
Officially the Spanish disallowed slavery whereas the Portugese used slave labor to help build their empire (in actual fact both countries were complicit in the practice). Anyway, the transfer of the mission territories to the Portugese "freed" the Indians to become slaves. But the Catholic Church had a say in what should become of the missions and Cardinal Altamirano (Ray McAnally) was sent to resolve the issue. In some ways Altamirano was a tragic figure: while he was encouraged by the Church to close the missions in order to stay in the good graces of Spain and Portugal (as well as to suppress the Jesuit order that the Church felt was becoming too powerful and independent), his sympathies lay with the missions and their priests. After having made his decision, one of Altamirano's aids remarked, "We must work in the world, your eminence. The world is thus," to which Altamirano responded, "No, thus have we made the world... thus have I made it." The most interesting parts of the movie involve the political manoeuvrings between Spain, Portugal, and the Catholic Church--in particular I found it interesting to see how deeply enmeshed in politics the Church was at the time.
Jeremy Irons is well cast as Father Gabriel, ably encompassing a range of gentleness, sternness, and passionate devotion. Robert De Niro turns in a surprisingly weak performance; a scene that has him transform from tears to joy is embarrassing to watch. Apparently De Niro doesn't do weeping or fake joy well. Anyone hoping that the scenes between Irons and De Niro would be exceptional will be disappointed. The real standout in the acting department is Ray McAnally as Cardinal Altamirano--he has some of the best dialog and is able to communicate the anguish the Cardinal experiences in making his difficult decision.
Many things just don't make sense. The San Carlos Mission is located above the falls and an initial scene that has Father Gabriel traveling to the mission shows him to be an expert rock climber--he is seen scaling a vertical rock wall and we are forced to watch the first of the obligatory, "I'm slipping and I may fall to my death" scenes. Shortly after Father Gabriel's trip to the mission De Niro, who is a slave trader at the beginning of the film, is seen riding into the town below the falls on horseback (with much fanfare) with about a dozen Indians in tow, both on foot and on horseback. Since De Niro was seen poaching Indians above the falls, I assumed that the Indians he had captured came from above the falls, but are all people in the area world-class rock climbers? Can horses scale vertical cliffs? Leaving that aside, how did De Niro, acting alone, capture over a dozen Indians? The Portugese soldiers are seen scaling the vertical cliffs, but others seem to pop up at the mission when it is convenient to have them there--even the good Cardinal winds up at San Carlos, and for sure he was no expert rock climber. I never had a good idea of the local topography. Confusion is a common reaction; it was never clear to me who some of the characters were, and the final battle scenes are totally chaotic.
De Niro does penance for killing his brother in a duel by carrying a bagful of heavy armor up to the San Carlos Mission. That whole sequence is so tedious and prolonged that I began to think I was being asked to share in his misery. I kept saying to myself, "I've paid my penance, let's move on."
This film is advertised as a true story but it would more accurately be described as being loosely based on historical facts.
As universally agreed, the film has scenes of stunning natural beauty, being filmed in part at the Iguazu Falls and in the jungles of Columbia. While these beautifully filmed scenes alone make the movie worth seeing, a drama should be more than a travelogue. Ennio Morricone's score is memorable, but I found it intrusive on occasion.
"The Mission" had ample material for the making of a great movie, but its lack of narrative focus and inability to involve you emotionally causes it to fall short. For a more powerful movie that treats the same theme of a priest entering virgin territory to convert native Indians to Christianity, see the wonderful "Black Robe." For a transfixing experience concerning early Conquistador forays into South America (accomapnied by a priest) see "Aguirre, the Wrath of God."