Saturday, September 17, 2005

The Mission...



Tonight was the last night of a class I have been taking as an intensive. 2 weeks, 5 nights a week, 6:30-10:00 every night. The class is called Intro to Global and Contextual Studies and is taught by Dr. Wilber Stone. Tonight's class was focused around the movie "The Mission", and we are to write a 5 page assessment of what they did right, wrong, and what we would do differently, drawing from our readings and in class discussions. If you haven't seen it, check it out. It does contain some violence, and some brief nudity of natives (think Amazon tribal people here). As a warning/spoiler, it doesn't end happy. But I do think it gives an interesting perspective on missions, and colonial imperialism. The two key figures in the move (Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons) take the opposite approach to solving the problem of colonialism. A story that serves as a painful reminder of some of the not so nice things done in the name of the Church. Rated PG, 2 hour run time.


Description (from Amazon.com)
Rodrigo Mendoza (ROBERT DE NIRO) was a violent soldier-for-hire in 1750s South America. Now he is a man of peace serving the Rain Forest Indians he once enslaved. But armies of Spain and Portugal threaten the lifestyle and safety of the native peoples. Now Rodrigo may have to pick up his sword and musket once again. From the producer of Chariots of Fire and the director of The Killing Fields comes a powerful epic co-starring JEREMY IRONS and graced with dazzling Academy Award-winning cinematography, set to a memorable music score and scripted by the Oscar-winning screenwriter of A Man for All Seasons and Doctor Zhivago.

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