My father had a penchant for classic cinema and as a boy he would introduce me to movies that mostly went over my head and coerced me to sleep (which perhaps was ‘his mission’ all along).
Citizen Kane, Casablanca, All The President’s Men (←most likely next week’s featured movie) and today’s featured film The Mission were four such movies. Regarding Kane, I normally made it to the snow scene: “what the kid needs is a good thrashing.” and Mrs. Kane responding, “That’s why he’s going to be brought up where you can’t get at him.” before drifting off. With age came maturity and a shrinking sleep window. I began to appreciate these movies and understood why he sat me down to watch them.
The Mission is shown regularly on the Film & Arts channel here. It is a British period drama film about the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in 18th-century South America. It won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for seven Academy awards. The Mission presents Jeremy Irons and Liam Neeson in their formative acting phase before going onto bigger things (in the commercial and mainstream sense) as sole protagonists. Regarding Robert De Niro he was already well established and credentialled in Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Interestingly, the director of those two movies and De Niro’s sidekick – Martin Scorsese went onto to do a film comparable to The Mission story and history of the Jesuits with his – The Silence (2016).
The film is set during the Jesuit Reductions, a program by which Jesuit missionaries set up missions independent of the Spanish state to teach Christianity to the natives. It tells the story of a Spanish Jesuit priest, Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons), who enters the South American jungle to build a mission and convert a community of Guaraní Indians to Christianity.
My favourite movie starring Jeremy Irons is the scantily recognised Waterland (1992) which featured here at ‘Friday’s Finest‘ in October 2019. The Mission is another where Irons is left to strut his stuff. To me, he is a bit like Anthony Hopkins in that regard. If he is well cast and switched on, there are few actors who can match him, but if he is miscast like I think DeNiro is here in The Mission then mediocrity can rear its ugly head. I saw some scenes from The Mission recently as I was doing house chores, and I couldn’t help but feel that DeNiro’s performance was wooden and out of place in this. I might need to see it again (in its entirety) to make a fairer assessment.
The following contains extracts from Wikipedia article below:
The Mission is based on events surrounding the Treaty of Madrid in 1750, in which Spain ceded part of Jesuit Paraguay to Portugal. A significant subtext is the impending suppression of the Jesuits, of which Father Gabriel is warned by the film’s narrator, Cardinal Altamirano, who was once himself a Jesuit. The film’s climax is the Guaraní War of 1754–1756, during which historical Guaraní defended their homes against Spanish-Portuguese forces implementing the Treaty of Madrid. For the film, a re-creation was made of one of the seven missions, São Miguel das Missões. The traditional range of the Guarani people is in what is now Paraguay between the Paraná River and lower Paraguay River, the Misiones Province of Argentina, southern Brazil once as far east as Rio de Janeiro, and parts of Uruguay and Bolivia.
- Robert De Niro was one of the few who did not became ill with amoebic dysentery.
- Many of the people who played the natives were indigenous South Americans who spoke little English. They were given free reign to say whatever lines they wanted. According to popular rumor, they are cursing up a storm in a few scenes.
- The film was released four years after its uncredited source book “The Lost Cities of Paraguay” by Father C. J. McNaspy was published. McNaspy also acted as a historical consultant to the film, which was loosely based on McNaspy’s work.
References:
1. The Mission – Wikipedia
2. The Mission – IMDB
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
I never seen this movie before…it sounds great.
This Sunday Bailey and I are going to the theater to watch the original Exorcist…I love that movie. Great acting in that.
Hi Max. I was reading in Reely’s Goonie post how you were excited about seeing the Exorcist on the big screen for the second time. We’ve got one of those cine’s in Bogota which mostly show the classics on the big screen. I must look it up. I’m letting all the best in cinema past me by. Thanks for jogging my memory. Enjoy the heck out of that horror classic.
Looks like a great movie. I enjoy Irons a lot. Deniro is on and off with me.
Ennio Morricone’s best. The motif is so soul-reaching that it became my favorite part of the movie. I play it often as a piano transcription at weddings. A great tribute movie to Jesuits as well. They never get a fair shake. Great write up! Great movie!
Hi Bernie. Your personal connection with this soundtrack is fascinating. Thanks for your encouraging words, friend. Have a marvellous Sunday!
You too, Matt. Such a beautiful soundtrack to play in the house on a morning like this 🙂
Nice Bernie!
I was watching a bit of the film yesterday since it appears so often on ‘film and arts’ and ‘Europa Channel’ and I heard an exquisite piece of music from it, that I hadn’t already downloaded for the music project. I’m going to look for it now. I already downloaded ‘On Earth as it is in Heaven’.
Oh I just found it – ‘Falls’. Exquisite. ‘Gabriel Oboe’ is great too. Look at what you have got me into Bernie Haha
And Vita Nostra!!! Arghhhh
Gabriel’s Oboe was so beautiful, Ennio’s friend begged him to add lyrics and make it a song. Have you heard “Nella Fantasia?” One of my all time faves to teach me choirs!
The recommendation by Ennio’s friend is interesting. How do you know so much about Ennio? Which version of Nella Fantasia should I tune into on YT? I just heard Sarah Brightman’s version and her introduction:
https://youtu.be/8kmPHRrHHtg I think I prefer it as an instrumental and understand Ennio’s reticence converting it. Thanks Reely.
I remember reading a program note about the conversion. I like them both. Really, it’s all about that arc-phrases melody. It’s just untouchable. The version I’m referring to is a SSAA choral arrangement for high school. I’ll have to look it up. JWPepper.com is where I find most of my music 🙂 Happy Tuesday!
‘it’s all about that arc-phrases melody’, SSAA & JWPepper..
Wooh.. easy fella, you are going over my head. Haha. Nah, it’s all good Bernie.
May your Wednesday be fantastic.
haha! Right back atcha, Matt! It’s my job. Here is the version we sang: https://www.jwpepper.com/Nella-Fantasia/10010458.item
Have a great Wednesday 🙂
The sample in the link (arr. Audrey Snyder) you sent from JWPepper is gorgeous! Thanks buddy.
We sang it a while back, and I can’t find a recording, but it was a favorite of ours. Not an easy learn either…
There seems one with the arr. Audrey Snyder on YT. Is this it?
Wow, this is such a beautiful rendition. I was referring to my humble high school’s performance back 10-12 years ago. We did it with just piano accompaniment, but I liked that choice because the focus was on the voices and Ennio’s soaring motif. Music that makes you melt!
Do you have an original recording of your high school performance back 10 or so years ago? I’m just kidding. I wish you did.
‘I’m melting, I’m melting’—-Is that from your No1 movie on your list?
Back in the day, we use to painstakingly record everything to CD, and the process was grueling, and now, it’s hard to find a CD player. These days, everything we do get recorded at live concerts and streamed.
No, I appreciate Oz, but it’s not on my fave list. We’re down to 13!
I felt it even painstaking to read how painstaking it was for y’all to record everything to that bygone technology. You can be a pain sometimes Bernie!
I love that Louie CK bit about all the parents posting their kids concert videos to their FB..You seen it? Well here goes:
Haha LOL so relatable!