The Mission (Two-Disc Special Edition)
by Roland Joffé
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DVD details
Actor: Aidan Quinn, Cherie Lunghi, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Robert De NiroDirector: Roland Joffé
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 125 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-05-13
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: 23497
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:
- Sweeping and visually resplendent, The Mission is a powerful action epic about a man of the sword (Robert DeNiro) and a man of the cloth (Jeremy Irons) who unite to shield a South American Indian tribe from brutal subjugation by 18th-century colonial empires. It reunites key talents behind The Killing Fields: co-producer David Puttnam, director Roland Joffe and cinematographer Chris Menges.Winner
DVD Reviews of The Mission (Two-Disc Special Edition)
DVD Review: The Moose Hole - Misguided 'Mission'
Summary: 3 Stars
When it comes to three talented performers as Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, and Liam Neeson, each one of us has a specific film role or feature film they have been in that comes automatically to our minds when we hear their names. For De Niro, he has benefited quite profitably from teaming up with director Martin Scorsese decades ago in Raging Bull and Taxi Driver, among others, as well as appearing in the Godfather series, the politically controversial Wag the Dog, and The Deer Hunter. Jeremy Irons is probably best known for his villainous voice role in The Lion King and his role opposite Bruce Willis in Die Hard with a Vengeance. And Liam Neeson's star has risen in part to critical praise of his roles in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List and Kinsey, as well as more mainstream hits as Star Wars: Episode I and Love Actually. But few would even fathom remembering the film of which all three of these actors share in common - The Mission.
The story for The Mission adheres presently to the historical events of the era and actions that would have taken place during the mid-1700s, specifically around the year 1750 CE, but in doing so the interests of its audience are alienated. Be it either from an unwillingness to take creative chances with the storyline or the lack of serious character development amongst the lead roles, The Mission more often then not bores its public into submission. Unless you happen to be genuinely invested within the time period in which this film is set against then it will be quite difficult to remain concerned for the outcome of the events onscreen. But the purpose of The Mission far exceeds the level of merely expressing to its audience the heart-wrenching tale of the turbulent changes taking root amongst the native Indian populations of Latin America during the mid-1700s but instead uses allegory to connect to after effects caused by the Treaty of Madrid of 1750 and the political turmoil within the same region in the 1980s, something that would hit home with its target audience. In reference back to the historical records of the time, in the year 1750 AD the countries of Spain and Portugal came to an accord in which they signed a document called the Treat of Madrid. The agreement allowed Spain to retain all territory west of modern-day Uruguay and Portugal kept the Amazon, Mato Grosso, Goias, and Rio Grande do Sul.
Robert De Niro's engaging and captivating performance as Rodrigo Mendoza, the former mercenary searching through redemption in the tropical missionary built by the Jesuit order, has to certainly be one of the most surprising and magnificent roles of his exhaustive film career. Glancing back toward Robert De Niro's promising career during the 1980s sincerely demonstrates how far the enduring talent has fallen over the years with roles in such horrid features as Godsend and Hide & Seek. The struggle for the film's audience is that they are directed emotionally to be supportive or sympathetic toward Rodrigo, especially near the end of the film, but clearly do not understand as to why they should feel this way. Seeing as how Rodrigo never expresses exactly, either to himself or to others within the Jesuit order, as to what he true feelings or intentions are toward a particular course of action, it is quite understandable as to why this would an inconvenience to the audience's way of thinking. The lack of character of development, which truthfully is not limited merely to De Niro's character, leaves far too many question unanswered. Beyond being merely family-related, why does Rodrigo feels as horrible as he does about killing his brother having been a mercenary most of his adult life, and thus having inflicted such brutal punishment, or worse, on a regular basis? Why does he agree to Father Gabriel's act of penance to begin with? What reason does he have for joining the Jesuit order? If for spiritual purposes then why does he withdraw back to his former way in the end, be it though for a better cause and purpose.
Jeremy Irons' Father Gabriel is constructed in almost the exact same fashion as De Niro's Rodrigo in that the assumptions made of the character's actions are left pretty opened ended, which does not benefit the audience's understanding the film's spiritual message. In any event though, Irons' solid performance is positively convincing and connects with the film's audience more thoroughly then any other role, a statement truly deserving of praise. But if there was choice as to which character in the film should have been cut from the final reel it would undoubtedly be Liam Neeson's Fielding, a member of the Jesuit missionary order. The dilemma with his character is that he serves no actual purpose, at least none that has any lasting effects on the proceedings of the rest of the film, and contributes little if anything to The Mission's overall thematic atmosphere. Beyond a few albeit brief appearances in the two-hour feature, the role of Fielding should have been designated as nothing more then a mere cameo for Neeson rather then a supporting role as it does nothing of the sort.
The Mission's musical composition, scored and conducted by Ennio Morricone, is truly a sight to be seen, or in this case heard, as it is truly difficult to categorize accurately unless it has been experienced personally. It ranges from purely elevated grandeur, flowing majestically as the swift guided strokes of the native Indian oarsmen convey the Cardinal through the Amazonian jungle to their mission-village, only to dabble into fits of the hysterically, unintentionally of course, awful. There should be no rational excuse for Morricone to have done this seeing as how it goes about distracting the audience from the course of the film, reoccurring every so often out of nowhere that no one can help but be confused when they hear it.
Despite benefiting exceedingly from a well-intentioned, if not an often disconcerted, storyline and proverbial sequences of dialogue, the pacing of the film seems rather off, convincing the audience that it is longer then its actual two hour and fifteen minute time length should suggest. Furthermore, The Mission's numerous obscure, and ultimately unnecessary, uses of particular sequences or character actions should have never found their way into the final version of the film. For example, what was with the little native Indian child tag along after Rodrigo? What particular purpose did he serve within the storyline that the other children did not? And was anyone else confused, or surprised, when his laughter sounded like Alvin and the Chipmunks? This might have more to say about the rather primitive sound innovations, from the modern perspective, of cinema within the 1980s then anything else but still it could have been dealt with differently then it was. And then there was the scene in which, as the Jesuit missionaries paddle their way toward the missionary village, a random tree along the river collapses into the water and then Irons makes a passing comment about it before quickly moving on. Was this truly necessary? The audience may receive somewhat of a chuckle from it but for obviously the wrong reasons, if the director had any for its inclusion.
Overall, The Mission, be it a historically accurate depiction of the imperialistic plunder of South America within that time period, ultimately makes poor use of its genuine storyline and conventional dialogue pieces in part to its rather melancholy pacing and anti-climatic conclusion. Also, the serious lack of character development, specifically concerning Robert De Niro's Rodrigo Mendoza, prevents the audience from making an emotional investment with the actions occurring onscreen, thus eliminating the mood of excitement or intrigue from the finale. Undoubtedly The Mission is an exceptional piece of little known cinema and should be viewed for its breathtaking cinematography and philosophical exchanges of discussion, but its sloppy editing techniques and lapses in scriptural genius within the screenplay ultimately prevent it from achieving the pinnacle of achievement amongst the movie-going public.
Description of The Mission (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Featuring a majestic score by Ennio Morricone and lush Oscar-winning cinematography by Chris Menges. It won the top prize at Cannes in 1986 and was nominated for a Best Film Oscar. The film is shot through with piercing, haunting imagery, pictures of enduring imaginative force. 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. The Mission is a rich and thought-provoking. It contains moving images of despair, penance, and redemption that are among the most evocative ever filmed.Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields) directs this fuzzy effort at a David Lean-like epic without David Lean's sense of emotional proportion. Lean's most important screenwriting collaborator, Robert Bolt, in fact wrote The Mission, which concerns a Jesuit missionary (Jeremy Irons) who establishes a church in the hostile jungles of Brazil and then finds his work threatened by greed and political forces among his superiors. Robert De Niro is briefly effective as a callous soldier who kills his own brother and then turns to Irons's character to oversee his penance and conversion to the clergy. The narrative and dramatic forces at work in this movie should be more stirring and powerful than they are--the problem being that Joffé is too removed from them to allow us in. --Tom Keogh
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