The Christian missionary may mean well, but you know what they say about good intentions, and the pathway is clear for certain members of the missionary team who will not only lose their mind but their spirituality when they venture into the Amazon to try to convert the natives. Great things are expected from Hollywood epics, and this one is a mixed bag filled with some excellence but a lot of confusion as far as the theme is concerned and as to what the message really is. There are some incredible performances, of course outstanding photography and a great musical score that is very moving. But fantastic technical elements don't always mean a great film as what's on the page doesn't always seem right on the screen, and mistakes in editing can often lead to a confusing, pondering and disappointing result when the released product makes its way to the public.
The casting is perplexing to say the least when it comes to the particular couples paired together, with Aidan Quinn and Kathy Bates as one and John Lithgow and Daryl Hannah as the other. It's obvious as far as temperament that Quinn and Hannah should be together and that Lithgow and Bates seemed a more likely couple. How they each ended up together is certainly a mystery, and I'm not referring to their looks but their own individual personality traits. Yet as the plot develops and the long established traditions and spirituality of the tribe begins to affect the others, they all face mental breakdowns that are horrifying to observe.
Another issue is that the film also focuses on the presence of the American born native Tom Berenger who plunges into the desert out of an abandoned plane (we never hear the crash) and is immediately adopted by the deeply hidden Amazon tribe because of how his own traditions and heritage seem to ooze off of them. Quinn and Bates' son bonds with the young natives, gets sick, which brings out the traditions facing death and a whaling of grief from the natives, something his rather cold mother can't seem to accept. The tragedy destroys her further, with father Quinn already in the process of losing his sanity is taken further into the depths of his own personal hell. The extremism of fellow missionary Lithgow further shows the hypocrisy of this particular branch of missionaries, damning the natives and breaking certain biblical laws at the same time, all in the service of their beliefs which doesn't do justice to the service of God.
The film is long and ponderous, and it seems as others have stated that certain books, plays or subject matters cannot be filmed correctly. There are also moments that seem to be unintentionally funny, and the performances (particularly Bates who is a cross between Constance Ford in "A Summer Place" and Estelle Parsons in "Bonnie and Clyde" and Lithgow, channeling Walter Huston in "Rain") tend to be melodramatic and frantic. I would highly recommend watching "The Mission" for a clearer view of the conflicts of the subject matter, but once you have seen this, it will be impossible to forget. Director Hector Babenco had the right idea, but unfortunately, the result of the completed film takes this into many messy directions. My take on this is that God exists in the middle of the jungle and those who reside there already have the spirituality they need, and that further attempts at saving them can only destroy the misguided and misdirected saviors.
The casting is perplexing to say the least when it comes to the particular couples paired together, with Aidan Quinn and Kathy Bates as one and John Lithgow and Daryl Hannah as the other. It's obvious as far as temperament that Quinn and Hannah should be together and that Lithgow and Bates seemed a more likely couple. How they each ended up together is certainly a mystery, and I'm not referring to their looks but their own individual personality traits. Yet as the plot develops and the long established traditions and spirituality of the tribe begins to affect the others, they all face mental breakdowns that are horrifying to observe.
Another issue is that the film also focuses on the presence of the American born native Tom Berenger who plunges into the desert out of an abandoned plane (we never hear the crash) and is immediately adopted by the deeply hidden Amazon tribe because of how his own traditions and heritage seem to ooze off of them. Quinn and Bates' son bonds with the young natives, gets sick, which brings out the traditions facing death and a whaling of grief from the natives, something his rather cold mother can't seem to accept. The tragedy destroys her further, with father Quinn already in the process of losing his sanity is taken further into the depths of his own personal hell. The extremism of fellow missionary Lithgow further shows the hypocrisy of this particular branch of missionaries, damning the natives and breaking certain biblical laws at the same time, all in the service of their beliefs which doesn't do justice to the service of God.
The film is long and ponderous, and it seems as others have stated that certain books, plays or subject matters cannot be filmed correctly. There are also moments that seem to be unintentionally funny, and the performances (particularly Bates who is a cross between Constance Ford in "A Summer Place" and Estelle Parsons in "Bonnie and Clyde" and Lithgow, channeling Walter Huston in "Rain") tend to be melodramatic and frantic. I would highly recommend watching "The Mission" for a clearer view of the conflicts of the subject matter, but once you have seen this, it will be impossible to forget. Director Hector Babenco had the right idea, but unfortunately, the result of the completed film takes this into many messy directions. My take on this is that God exists in the middle of the jungle and those who reside there already have the spirituality they need, and that further attempts at saving them can only destroy the misguided and misdirected saviors.