The Mission, a powerful and compelling movie about a Jesuit missionary and the colonial
forces of Portugal and Spain, is a movie with many different themes and ideas. The
action of the movie takes place in South America in the 18th century. Two groups of
people are competing for the minds and souls of the native Indian group, the Guaranee.
There are the imperialist plunderers and slave traders, then the missionaries who want to
convert the Indians to Christ. The movie is told and develops through the device of
letters that explain what happened to the mission settlement. The missionaries dream of a
society in which Christian natives will live in harmony with the Spanish and Portuguese.
Yet, the colonial governors find this dangerous. They would rather enslave the Indians
than convert them. They issue for the mission to be destroyed. The Mission depicts the
challenge of conscience that confronts us all in a world convulsed by power, greed, and
violence. At the same time, The Mission is a film that reminds us of the vitality of love,
the miracle of grace, and the transforming power of acts of conscience.
Music plays an important role in this movie. From the very beginning, music is
heard. When Father Gabriel first goes up to the tribe, he is seen playing oboe and through
the music, the Guaranee recognize him as a man of peace and take them into their midst.
The music is also present when the Indians perform for His Eminence. Their great choir
and orchestras impress him very much. So what is the key role of this? I believe the
importance of music is that it is known to everyone. In every culture, of every religion,
there is music. Music is something that allowed the missionary to come about, because it
showed peace and no harm. However, music was not enough to save the mission from
The movie has one main question that was present throughout that the Pope's
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