How should Christians respond to evil?

Rating: 9/10 (13 March 2009)

Goldcrest Films were the most remarkable cinematic phenomenon of the eighties. They were responsible for a string of films- "Chariots of Fire", "Gandhi", "Local Hero", "The Killing Fields", "Hope and Glory"- which not only rank among the greatest ever British films but were also much admired internationally. "Chariots of Fire" and "Gandhi" both won "Best Picture" Oscars, and several of their other films were nominated, including "The Mission".
The film did not, however, perform well at the box office; possibly its theme, the Guarani War of the 1750s, was too remote to appeal to the average cinema-goer. Set in what is today Paraguay and the adjoining areas of Brazil and Argentina, it tells the story of Father Gabriel, a Spanish Jesuit, who enters the jungle to build a mission and convert the local Guaraní Indians to Christianity. The Jesuit missions of this area were largely autonomous of the Spanish state and provided the Indians some protection against Portuguese slave-traders. Gabriel is joined in his work by Rodrigo Mendoza, a former mercenary and slave-trader who has repented and become a Christian after killing his brother in a quarrel over a woman. Eventually, Mendoza becomes a Jesuit himself.
The crisis comes when the Jesuit missions, which under Spanish rule enjoyed some protection, are handed over to the Portuguese under the terms of the Treaty of Madrid. A Papal emissary, Cardinal Altamirano, is sent to determine whether the missions should continue to enjoy their autonomy under Portuguese rule, or whether they should be suppressed, which will allow the new colonial masters to enslave the Guaraní. The King of Portugal, Joseph I, has come under the influence of his anti-clerical favourite, the Marquis of Pombal, who is threatening to expel the Jesuits from Portugal itself, and Altamirano believes that such an outcome can be avoided if he permits the suppression of their missions in South America.
The film is notable for its sympathetic treatment of Christianity, and poses the question "how should Christians respond to evil?" It does not provide an easy answer, because there is no easy answer to this question. (The script was written by Robert Bolt, author of "A Man for All Seasons" which asks the same question in slightly different terms). The two main characters, Gabriel and Mendoza, symbolise two possible responses, Gabriel representing Christian pacifism and Mendoza the concept of the "just war". Mendoza the former slaver has come to detest slavery with all the zeal of the convert, and when the Portuguese send soldiers to destroy the mission he uses his military experience to lead the Guaraní in a war of resistance. Gabriel detests slavery as much as Mendoza, but he also detests war and violence, which he sees as the negation of all he has ever worked for, and refuses to fight the invaders, trying to defend the community by nonviolent means.
Altamirano represents a third possible response, that of collaboration. As played by Ray McAnally, he is by no means an evil man, despite the part he plays in the destruction of the missions. He is sincerely devout, and can appreciate the worth of what Gabriel and the Jesuits are trying to do in Paraguay. His dilemma is similar to that facing many in Nazi-occupied Europe; does one collaborate with evildoers, in the hope that one can thereby mitigate their evil, or does one actively oppose them, with the risk that this might provoke them to commit even more wicked acts? Altamirano's decision is wrong, especially as the Jesuits were indeed to be expelled from Portugal about a decade after the events shown in this film, but that does not necessarily mean that the thought-processes that led him to that decision were all base ones.
This was the second film to be directed by Roland Joffé, the first being "The Killing Fields" (also for Goldcrest). In the mid-eighties he was regarded as one of the brightest talents in the British cinema, and these two films show why. The British film industry is sometimes accused of shying away from the darker side of life, and it can certainly sometimes be parochial in its preference for films with a local setting, but these two films do not fit that stereotype at all; both are set in distant parts of the world, and both deal unsparingly with the subject of man's inhumanity. "The Mission", in particular, is a superb film, for a number of reasons.
Firstly it deals with a serious subject in an intelligent way. Secondly, there is a great musical score from Ennio Morricone, especially the haunting theme played to the Indians by Gabriel on his oboe. (Under the title "Gabriel's Oboe" it has become part of the Classical repertoire). Thirdly, there is the photography of the dramatic jungle scenery, which helped win the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. (The film was actually shot in Colombia; possibly political considerations precluded filming in Paraguay itself, then still under the rule of the Stroessner dictatorship). Fourthly, there is the power and drama of the action sequences.
Finally, Joffé was able to call upon some great acting, from McAnally, and from Jeremy Irons who succeeds well in conveying Gabriel's wisdom and goodness. Above all there is Robert De Niro. This is not often ranked among his greatest films, but in my view it should be. (Perhaps some of his admirers find it difficult to accept him as anything other than an American). Mendoza is a character who goes through considerable development in the course of the film, from brutal, swaggering soldier of fortune, to conscience-stricken penitent, to man of God, to desperate freedom fighter, and De Niro is never less than convincing in all of these four different incarnations. This should be ranked among the finest movies of the eighties. 9/10