Mission (1986)

"A sweeping spectacle.  Newsweek

Editor's Note A visually stunning epic, THE MISSION recounts the true story of two men--a man of the sword (Robert De Niro) and a man of the cloth (Jeremy Irons)--both Jesuit missionaries who defied the colonial forces of mighty Spain and Portugal to save an Indian tribe from slavery in mid-18th-century South America. Mendoza (De Niro) is a slave trader and colonial imperialist who murdered his own brother (Aidan Quinn) and seeks penance for his sins by becomining a missionary at Father Gabriel's (Irons) mountaintop mission; Gabriel is a devout and idealistic man who extols nonviolence and peaceful interaction with the natives and colonialists. Despite their differences, the two men must unite to save the mission when Spain, Portugal, and the Catholic church begin negotiating their boundaries in the area--negotiations that will affect both the freedom of the natives and the well-being of the Jesuit missionaries who have set up safe havens for them. Director Roland Joffé's sweeping masterpiece is a haunting account of the unjust treatment of the Guarani Indians of South America and the men who fought desperately, in very different ways, to save them. The film features a mezmerizing musical score by Ennio Morricone that weaves a stunning combination of church choirs and native Indian panpipes into the lush images of the Brazilian rainforest.

	Jeremy Irons
	Ray McAnally
	Robert De Niro
	Ronald Pickup
	Aidan Quinn
	Cherie Lunghi
	Iain Smith - Associate Producer
	Roland Joffe - Director
	Chris Menges - Director of Photography
	Jim Clark - Editor
	Ennio Morricone - Musical Score
	Fernando Ghia - Producer
	David Puttnam - Producer
	Stuart Craig - Production Designer
	Robert Bolt - Writer

In Roland Joffé's THE MISSION, a swordsman and a priest, both Jesuit missionaries, defy the colonial forces of Spain and Portugal to save an Indian tribe in 18th-century South America. Sight and Sound
"...Many dazzling sequences....Joffé is well in command of his emotional commitments..." 09/01/1986 p.285-6

Variety
"...Spectacular scenery and an extraordinary high degree of production values....Director Joffe has come up with some stunning scenes..." 05/21/1986

Los Angeles Times
"...THE MISSION is haunting spectacle, it is serious and passionate....It provides Jeremy Irons with a chance for his purest and most searing film performance..." 11/15/1986 p.C1

Total Film
"...Earnest in tone, melancholic in mood....If your tear ducts aren't tingling as its credits roll, check your soul..." 07/01/2003 p.130

Hollywood Reporter
"...Ennio Morricone's famous score sounds appropriately mystical and majestic..." 05/13/2003 p.26-63