With many of the same themes as Andrei Rublev, nonetheless The Mission is movie which has a wider appeal to English-speaking audiences than Rublev. Both movies are about men trying to find forgiveness, not only from God, but from themselves.
The Mission tells the story of an 18th century Jesuit Mission in South America. Rodrigo Mendoza, played by Robert de Niro, joins the missionary work as a way to find peace in himself after he killed his own brother. He works with Father Gabriel, played by Jeremy Irons, to establish a Jesuit mission among the Guaraní Indians, only to find their efforts hampered by the politics of colonization. In the dramatic struggle which ensues, the story provides ample opportunity for the viewer to understand the plight of the Native Americans, and the duplicitous policies enacted upon them which hindered their appreciation of the Gospel. But it also shows that there were others who cared for them, worked with them and for them, showing one of them reasons why many of them were attracted to the Gospel, even if their reaction was, and has continued to be, ambivalent.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In