A mention of the 1986 film The Mission often evokes appraisals about its breathtaking soundtrack written by Ennio Morricone.
The legendary Italian composer’s music score won at the BAFTA Film Awards and the Golden Globe Awards while earning an Academy Award nomination. The Oscar controversially went to Herbie Hancock for Round Midnight. Overall, the film was nominated for seven Oscars, but that year, it only won Best Cinematography.
Music was also used as a prop in The Mission, as seen in the above clip, in which Jesuit priest Father Gabriel, played by Jeremy Irons, connects with Guaraní men by playing the oboe.
To watch the clip, just click the play button on the left of the feature image above.
Directed by British director Roland Joffé, The Mission won the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes but failed to be a box office success and only just made its budget back. Joffé had a hit two years before with The Killing Fields, about the horrors of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia during the 1970s.
The Mission also starred Robert De Niro (pictured below) as Captain Rodrigo Mendoza and a fresh-faced Liam Neeson (pictured just behind De Niro’s character) in a supporting role as another priest.
Based on History
The Mission was based on historical events from the 18th century in a region now part of Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Uruguay. From 1610 to 1768, the Jesuit order had a total of 30 communal missions for the Guaraní.
Under the Jesuits, the missions were a sanctuary, but pressure from slavers led to the missions establishing militias.
In time, some of these missions fought not only slavers but also the Portuguese on behalf of the Spanish King until political winds changed, and they also fought Spanish forces.
The Jesuit missions finally collapsed in 1768 when the Portuguese and Spanish banished them from Latin America.
Watch the trailer for The Mission below.