Film Response: The Mission

Grace Gama
Amind435
1/25/2017
Film Response: The Mission
The Mission is a remarkably symbolic film about the perception of native indians throughout history. The Guarni indians in this film do not speak english and are largely represented by both Rodrigo Mendoza and Father Gabriel in the time frame of 1740. The two are
Spanish missionaries who have set off to build missions to introduce civilization into native life.
When country lines are redrawn during the settlement of The Treaty of Madrid, the lands of the
Guarni fall into Portuguese territory. The Portuguese government view natives as a sub-human, animalistic species and believe they deserve to be sold into slavery. Gabriel and Mendoza both work to persuade the Portuguese that the natives are working members of

For example, in one of the first scenes where Father Gabriel plays the oboe for a group of natives, one snatches the instrument and breaks it in two. This relates to the barbaric savage discussed in class. Note that the indians speak to one another in a different language that is not subtitled in the movie; therefore, we have no knowing about their way of life and their reasonings. It is only in the narrative and in some translation that we are given answers to what some of their intentions are.
Alongside the lack of understanding their narrative, there are few shots of their faces but many of their bare, painted bodies. When the face is excluded in a shot, we as viewers are unable to connect with the emotion given by a character. Together, the lack of language translation and emotional expression depicted by the Guarni in this film, the viewer is robbed from understanding them as humans. In contrast, the Spanish and Portuguese are always clothed, speak rather eloquently and each character is developed in that we know their histories and social stature. To add to the aforementioned, there are no complex Guarni characters and none are