The Mission

Featuring a majestic score by Ennio Morricone and lush Oscar-winning cinematography by Chris Menges, Roland Joffé's The Mission examines the events surrounding the Treaty of Madrid in 1750, when Spain ceded part of South America to Portugal, and turns this episode into an allegory for the mid-'80s ...more

Although this 1986 Roland Joffé film won high praise, the acclaim was by no means universal. Not a few reviewers criticized it for depicting Christianized natives in 18th Century South America as little more than talking mannequins à la the old Tarzan movies. Many of these same reviewers also maintained that the script and scope of the film restricted the ability of Jeremy Irons (Father Gabriel) and Robert DeNiro (a reformed slave trader named Mendoza) to develop their celluloid alter egos ...more