THE MISSION: Blu-ray (Goldcrest, 1986) Warner Home Video
An outright commercial flop when it was released
theatrically, director, Roland Joffé’s The Mission (1986) has gone on to
be considered one of the finest religious-themed movies ever made; and
rightfully so. The picture, casting two of the heaviest hitters then working in
pictures – Robert DeNiro, as a ruthless mercenary, to have found his faith
after committing an unspeakable act, and Jeremy Irons, as the devout Jesuit
missionary priest, attempting to bring the word of God to 18th
century South America – fairly teems with finely wrought performances from Ray
McAnally, Aidan Quinn, Cherie Lunghi and Liam Neeson. Visually, The Mission
is a stunner - its handsome pictorial quality supplied by cinematographer,
Chris Menges. Plushily mounted by Goldcrest Pictures, The Mission is
based on an actual historical event, immaculately fleshed out by screenwriter
extraordinaire, Robert Bolt, whose name ought not require an introduction. But
lest we forget to honor Robert Bolt as a superior constructionist, whose
mid-sixties output – and beyond – reads like an eye chart of Oscar-winners: Lawrence
of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), A Man for All Seasons
(1966), Ryan's Daughter (1970), and, The Bounty (1984). Bolt won
back-to-back Academy Awards for ‘Zhivago’ and ‘Seasons’.
But his latter contributions to The Bounty and The Mission are
perhaps even more impressive as Bolt, felled in rapid succession by a heart
attack and a stroke, severely paralyzed after 1979 – regrettably, to die at the
age of 70 in 1995, in Petersfield, Hampshire, England – illustrates herein he
had lost none of his creativity in the process. Bolt’s hand of genius is all
over The Mission – Joffé, honoring the passionate stance of this storytelling
grand master; extolling the virtues in Bolt’s prose with long, sustained scenes
of exchange, the camera, relatively immobile and rather elegantly to allow for
the grand ole manner of a David Lean epic from bygone days.
There was, in fact, nothing about Roland Joffe's initial foray into directing – on the small
screen for Granada Television in 1973 – to suggest he could helm such large-scale
projects as this, and, The Killing Fields (1984) – his debut, and for
which he garnered an Oscar nomination as Best Director. If not for the intervention of producer, Tony
Garnett, who sought Joffé to direct The Spongers for the BBC, Joffé
might have remained an enigma, quietly ensconced in British TV. Indeed, the BBC
feared Joffé’s political views would alienate their viewership – as, in his
youth Joffé had casually attended several Workers' Revolutionary Party meetings.
However, he never became a party member. And thus, Garnett won out. The
Spongers was made, and went on to win the prestigious Prix Italia award.
From here, Joffé directed more product for the BBC, migrating to motion
pictures with 1984’s The Killing Fields and then, almost immediately embarking
upon The Mission. The Mission tells the tale of a conflict
between Jesuit missionaries in South America, attempting to civilize the
Guaraní Indians, and, the Portuguese and Spanish colonizers, desiring merely to
enslave them for their own purposes. The Mission won the Palme d'Or and
Technical Grand Jury Prize at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival and was voted for
six Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, Best Director, and Ennio
Morricone's acclaimed Best Original Score. Of these, it took home only one
statuette for Best Cinematography. Had the movie not lost money at the box
office, Joffé's post-‘Mission’ career might have been more
successful. Alas, it succumbed to a spate of forgettable tripe. His 1993, big
budget adaptation of the video game, Super Mario Bros. struggled to break
even. 1995’s The Scarlet Letter was an outright critical and financial tsunami,
and, 2007’s Captivity – Joffé’s stab at horror, drew controversy. For
these latter two efforts, Joffé also earned Razzie nominations as Worst
Director, a far cry from all the initial promise he showed.
Today, The Mission is widely admired for many aspects
of its production, not the least, Italian composer, Ennio Morricone eloquent
score, which continues to rank 1st on the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation's Classic 100 Music in the Movies. Morricone’s contributions cannot
be overestimated, his sublime central theme, a lilting and lyrical tome playing
as counterbalance to the thought-numbing carnage on display in the movie’s
penultimate act of aggression against the natives, led in peaceful protest by Father
Gabriel, who knows he is on a suicide mission. Morricone’s point of embarkation
is a liturgical piece entitled, ‘On Earth as It Is in Heaven’, later,
evolved into the ‘Spanish’ theme. This is an accelerated counterbalance
to the ‘Guaraní’ theme, created in a stylized and sustained cadence,
heavily influenced by native music and employing several indigenous
instruments. In the movie’s climactic tragedy, Morricone miraculously melds
these disparate anthems into one powerful declaration of peaceful demonstration.
And Morricone further compliments the conflicting pieces of music with a considerable
choral of indigenous people, performing a rendition of ‘Ave Maria’.
Our journey is relayed in flashback, Bolt, who based his
screenplay on Father C.J. McNaspy’s book, The Lost Cities of Paraguay, carefully
delineates events just prior to the Treaty of Madrid in 1750. For authenticity,
McNaspy was also hired as a consultant on the movie. The Jesuits are deemed a
dangerous influence and Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) is forewarned by Cardinal
Altamirano (Ray McNally) of the ominous change to befall his small perish,
nestled in the jungles. Altamirano, once a Jesuit, begins our story, eight years
removed from the tragedy. The story is, in fact, loosely inspired by the actual
Andalusian Jesuit Father Luis Altamirano, sent to Paraguay in 1752 to transfer
territories from Spain to Portugal, including several missions already settled
by the Guaraní. But Father Gabriel's plight more accurately mirrors Paraguayan saint and
Jesuit, Roque González de Santa Cruz. In the movie’s heartbreaking climax, the
outnumbered, and largely unarmed Guaraní passionately defended their homes
against the advancing Spanish-Portuguese forces, hellbent on annexing their
land. For budgetary purposed, only the annexation of São Miguel das Missões was
actually depicted in the movie.
Applying his usual amount of artistic license, Bolt
and Joffé also borrow their inspiration from earlier events not depicted in
McNaspy’s book. The dramatic waterfall, as example, over which Father Gabriel’s
lifeless body is later cast, was a setting more indicative of older missions,
founded between 1610 and 1630 on the Paranapanema River above the Guaíra Falls,
from which slave raids forced their evacuation in 1631. Meanwhile, the
penultimate showdown between the Guarani and the Spaniards is copied from the
Battle of Mbororé in 1641; eight bloody days where the Jesuit-organized Guaraní
successfully barred entry into their enclave. It is also prudent to point out
that the real Altamirano was not a Cardinal sent by the Pope, but an emissary of
the Superior General of the Society of Jesus - Ignacio Visconti, to preserve
the Jesuits in Europe. For sheer exoticism, the producers relied on the natural
rugged splendor of Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay; the tunnels of
Fort Amherst in Kent, subbing in for the monastery where De Niro’s Mendoza has
taken refuge.
The bulk of our story is set in 1750. Spanish Jesuit
priest, Father Gabriel enters the eastern Paraguayan jungle, desiring to
construct a mission that will bring Christianity to the Guaraní, who are not
initially receptive to outsiders and tie another priest to a wooden cross before
sending him over the Iguazu Falls. Father Gabriel travels to the falls, climbs
to the top, and plays his oboe. The Guaraní warriors, captivated by his music,
allow him to live. Meanwhile, mercenary and slaver, Rodrigo Mendoza makes his living
by selling Guarani slaves to nearby plantation owners, including the Spanish
Governor Don Cabeza (Chuck Low). After returning from another kidnapping expedition,
Mendoza is informed by his fiancée, Carlotta (Cherie Lunghi) she has migrated
her affections over to his younger half-brother, Felipe (Aidan Quinn). Mendoza
is deeply wounded by this revelation, and later, discovering the couple in each
other’s arms in bed, fitfully murders Felipe in a duel. Although acquitted of
the killing, Mendoza is tortured by his actions and spirals into a deep, dark
depression. Father Gabriel challenges Mendoza to undertake a ‘suitable penance’.
Mendoza agrees, following Father Gabriel into the jungle, but, as yet unable to
surrender completely to the cause, still dragging a weighty bundle of his most
prized possessions behind him, including his armor and sword. Upon reaching the
outskirts of the native village, Mendoza is certain he will fall victim to the Guaraní,
whom he has so ruthlessly wronged. Instead, the peaceable natives embrace the
man who once enslaved their kind. Mendoza is reduced to tears of humility, his
heavy bundle – and by extension, his burdens - cut away and lifted from his careworn
shoulders and mind.
Father Gabriel's mission is a sanctuary. The education
of the Guaraní has, in tandem, evolved their intelligence and compassion. Fully
invested, Mendoza pledges himself to the betterment of the mission. Father Gabriel
provides Mendoza with a Bible. At first, unprepared to fully immerse himself in
the word of God, Mendoza eventually takes vows and becomes a Jesuit under
Father Gabriel and his colleague, Father John Fielding (Liam Neeson). For a brief
moment, the missions maintain their independence from the outside world.
However, no longer protected under Spanish law, the missions soon fall under
the governance of the Portuguese, who permit slavery. The Portuguese colonials
now seek to enslave the Guaraní. As the Jesuit missions directly impede this,
Papal emissary, Cardinal Altamirano is sent from the Vatican to survey and
decide which, if any, of these sanctuaries should remain autonomous. Under
considerable pressure from Cabeza and Portuguese representative, Hontar (Ronald
Pickup), Cardinal Altamirano is forced to choose between two imperfect
solutions. If he rules on behalf of the colonists, the Guarani will surely be
enslaved. Alas, if for the missions, the entire Jesuit Order may be condemned
by the Portuguese, prepared to severe their alliance with the Catholic Church.
Altamirano elects to make an extended inspection of
the missions and is sincerely overwhelmed by their industry and successful spiritual
conversion of the natives. Altamirano implores Gabriel to reconsider relocating,
suggesting it is God’s will to do so. Only now, the Guaraní question such a
claim as, arguably, it was ‘God's will’ to settle and develop the mission. Under
risk of excommunication, Father Gabriel and Mendoza state their position to
defend the mission against plantation owners and colonists. And while aligned
in their belief of the Guarani’s sovereignty to govern themselves, Mendoza and
Father Gabriel clash on how best to achieve their goal against this impending
military attack. Father Gabriel’s stance is that violence of any kind is an
afront to God and begets more violence. Against Father Gabriel's wishes, Mendoza
educates the natives in the European art of war. Thus, when the first forced
attack on their homes occurs, the advancing Portuguese are startled to find the
mission extremely well defended by Mendoza, Fielding and the Guaraní. Alas, they
remain inexperienced. In the ensuing
struggle to regain their ground, Mendoza is fatally wounded. Fielding
sacrifices himself in self-defense.
Upon arriving in the heart of the mission, the
soldiers are reticent to further their attack by the presence of the church.
Instead, they encounter Father Gabriel, carrying a monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament, and,
Guaraní women and children who approach them in the singing processional. Ruthlessly,
the Spanish commander orders to attack and Father Gabriel, the rest of the
priests, and virtually all of the defenseless Guaraní are slaughtered. A child
picks up the fallen Blessed Sacrament. But only a small contingent manages to
escape into the jungle. Bewildered and saddened by this tragic outcome, Cardinal
Altamirano and Hontar exchange words. Hontar
slyly suggests, “We must work in the world. The world is thus,” to which
Altamirano more honestly replies, “Thus have we made the world. Thus, have I
made it.” Days later, a canoe of young Guarani survivors returns to the
scene of the massacre, salvaging a few pitiful belongings. They set off on
another journey up the river, going deeper still into the jungle. In the movie’s
epitaph, we discover that many priests continue to fight for the rights of native
people and the text of John 1:5 is displayed: ‘The light shineth in the
darkness, and the darkness hath not overcome it.’
The Mission ought to have been a colossal smash hit. Certainly,
its potential was never in question; nor, its integrity as a brilliantly
written piece of historic-fiction. Rather embarrassingly, audiences failed to
embrace such artistry, the movie’s pallid $17.2 million gross outweighed by its
$25.4 million outlay. Brit-based financiers, Goldcrest Films lost a whopping
£2,880,000 – if only, temporarily – to
impugn their ability to do business elsewhere. The company enjoyed considerable
success in the 1980’s with such Oscar-winning titans as Chariots of Fire
(1981), Gandhi (1982), and, The Killing Fields (1984), the
war-themed Hope and Glory (1987), children’s fav, All Dogs Go To
Heaven (1989), and, financing Merchant-Ivory’s first major intercontinental
hit, A Room With a View (1985). Following their initial flourish, Goldcrest
felt safe in backing more elaborate productions. Alas, these tended to go over
budget and, in the end, miserably failed to recoup their investments: Revolution
(1985), The Mission (1986) and Absolute Beginners (1986) - all miserable
flops at the box office. Viewed today, The Mission plays as even more of
a throwback to all those glorious road show epics made in the mid-sixties. And
indeed, with Robert Bolt’s participation on the project, how could it not feel
very much like a David Lean knock-off. Even so, The Mission is imbued
with two exquisitely wrought central performances: De Niro’s flashier role, and
Irons’ sublimely understated counterpart. With all its myriad of treasures, The
Mission remains a handsomely mounted super production, made at a time when
such colossi were decidedly out of fashion.
Had it been made only a few years before, or even a decade later – with the
mid-1990’s resurgence of public interest in costume pictures, The Mission
would surely have taken its place in the cinema firmament. Sandwiched between two Oscar-winning period costume
epics – 1985’s Out of Africa, and 1987’s The Last Emperor, The
Mission forfeited its Best Picture statuette to Oliver Stone’s Platoon,
in a year where Goldcrest’s other costume drama, the infinitely more popular, A
Room With a View also vied for this top honor.
Warner Home Video’s Blu-ray of The Mission is
another done in the early days of hi-def mastering. And viewed today, it could certainly
use a new 4K scan and 1080p upgrade. Arguably, Chris Menges’ cinematography was
never meant to be pristine. Nor was it likely to illustrate extremely refined
crispness. And while what is here easily bests Warner’s 2003 DVD
release, the image toggles between scenes remarkably adept at showing off the
lushness of Menges’ cinematography, to moments that are dark, unrefined and
grainier than anticipated. Outdoor scenery
yields an extremely impressive palette of rich and vibrant hues. Colors really
pop under the sweltering white hot South American sun. Flesh tones appear
accurate. Overall, however, image depth
is wanting and contrast, usually quite solid, suffers in several key sequences,
applying a sort of milky façade to dilute the image. The DTS 5.1 audio contains some mild
separation, but lacks overall refinement. Warner has ported over Joffé’s audio
commentary from the previously released DVD. We also get the same 57-minute
documentary – ‘Omnibus: The Making of The Mission’ - well worth
the price of admission. Bottom line: The Mission is one of the very best
movies to emerge from the whack-tac-u-lar eighties. Viewed today, it has lost
none of its dramatic potency and should be considered an absolute ‘must-have’ for
any serious movie collector. The Blu-ray could have been better, but avoids the
more obvious pitfalls in hi-def authoring, and therefore, comes recommended.
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)
4.5
VIDEO/AUDIO
3.5
EXTRAS
2.5
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