Movie: The Mission

Meena Throngkumpola

The movie, "The Mission," is about how the Spanish in

cooperation with
Pourtugal try to get the Jesuits off land negotiated by the two
countries. The
Spanish Church sends people into Asuncion, Paraguay to persuade the
Jesuits to
get off the land. The film includes spiritual and political
activities the are
reflected through the church, natives, and the Jesuits.
What the movie mainly tried to show was that the Church wanted
to
maintain control over the Jesuits. To show that control, they went to
Paraguay
and tried to persuade the Jesuits to leave. The Spanish allowed them
to take
care of the matter to prove that. Spain and Portugal had negotiated
the treaty
of Tordesillias. In this treaty the two countries split the western
world into
two parts where Spain can have one half and Portugal the other. In the
newer
version of the treaty, the line that split the land was moved in favor
of
Portugal. On that land, missionaries had already set up missions. To
better
the economy for Portugal, the Spanish Church was sent in to get the
Jesuits out.
The would be effected by the continuation of the Jesuits because of
the slave
trade. If the Jesuits stayed, the Indians would have a spiritual
leader . To
brake their faith the Jesuits would have to be removed.
Near the end of the movie, the Spanish do try to break the faith
of the
Indians. Father John is seen carrying a cross with many natives
following behind
him. He is killed purposely, and even though he is down, the native
faith is
still there. A young native boy picks up the cross and assumes the role
of
father proving that killing the head leader does not kill the faith.
One aspect of the movie was the technology. The Indians were
attacked by
a powerful weapon, and that was the weapon of being inferior to a race
that had
a different way of life. The Indians were introduced to guns, complex
musical
instruments, and simplicities such as clothing. These new things
changed their
life. In the battle scene, the Indians steal gun powder from the
Spanish. The
gun powder is then used by the Indians to their advantage. By using
home made
cannons, they are not totally helpless to the cannons and bullets of the
opposing side. One of the most memorable scenes of the movie shows the
small
native girl picking up a destroyed violin and taking it with her with
many more
children on a canoe. The only reason I can see for that scene is to
represent
that even though the children are leaving the area to get away from the
bad
people, they will never fully forget what happened to them as they
encountered
the white men. The sequences where the same girl sees her own people
dying
shows that even though these people were bad, they had made an impact
that would
not be forgotten.
This movie, "The Mission," shows many of the negative effects of
European expansion. It reflects the many political and spiritual
struggles that
the people faces, and shows that expansion of the west was not a pretty
or
glorious chapter of history.