The Mission

In the heart of 18th-century South America, a remote Jesuit mission stands as the last bastion of salvation for a community of indigenous Guaraní threatened by Portuguese and Spanish colonial expansion. Led by the charismatic Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons), who preaches the power of faith and compassion, and the tormented mercenary Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert De Niro), on his own personal redemption-seeking mission, the protagonists find themselves at the centre of an epochal conflict revolving around spirituality, justice and political power. An enormously successful modern-day classic, The Mission won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and was nominated for seven Academy Awards. The only person to lift an Oscar was cinematographer Chris Menges, but Ennio Morricone's poignant score remains memorable, with the fragile and universal melody of Gabriel's Oboe still moving today. The film was not immune to criticism for its poor historical accuracy (in particular, its watered-down depiction of the evangelization mission) and its somewhat paternalistic attitude towards the natives, but it nevertheless won audiences over with the visual power of its sumptuous images and its unequivocal condemnation of violent European greed and persecution based on ethnic and cultural beliefs.