Sunday

My problem with The Mission, which I watched again recently, is the message, or ethos, it is recommending. Aside from this I believe it is a remarkable film, containing one of the best musical scores ever written, and the most stunning scenery ever photographed. This ethos, however, irritated me. What exactly does the movie suggest? Neither violence or peaceful resistance have any effect. It could be that the outcome of the plot is nothing to do with what the film recommends. Rather, it could be found in nature of the main character. Jeremy Irons seems the 'hero'. He believes in love alone, not that it will conquer over violence in this world, but in eternity. If this is the message of the movie, I find it a bit cloying. Yet, there is something strangely compelling about the film's refusal to give you any clear meaning, any hope, or any particular unhappy ending. You are left saddened but somehow inspired. It is easy to say that this movie is nothing without the score and the scenery - there is little dialogue or action, and the narrator is inconsistent and unnecessary. Overall, it seems, this movie leaves me confused rather than confident.