Article about the Mission by Miguel Llora, MA

Rating: 2/10 (3 September 2011)

The Mission (1986) is a dangerous movie. While it pretends to be both historically accurate and Indian friendly, the film actually re-enforces neo-imperialism, paternalism and a dangerous form of Otherness. A parallel can be drawn to the work of Edward Said who framed his examination of the interaction between the imagined geographical framework of the Orient and the dominant Occident in his book Orientalism as a production of actors constrained by forces outside of their art (Said 1). If you overlay this epistemological framework in examining The Mission (1986), which this work will limit itself; it will reveal as mentioned previously: neo- imperialism, paternalism and a sinister form of "Otherness." The nature of film is at question here. Why? Why include particular scenes? Why take liberties with history? Why include certain entries and exclude others? ....read more:
http://www.mllora.com/mission.doc