Synopsis for
The Mission (1986) More at IMDbPro »

The film is set during the Jesuit Reductions, a program by which Jesuit missionaries set up missions independent of the Spanish state to teach Christianity to the natives. It tells the story of a Spanish Jesuit priest, Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons), who enters the South American jungle to build a mission and convert a community of Guaraní Indians to Christianity.

At the beginning of the movie, a Jesuit missionary is lashed to a cross by the Guarani Indians who live above the spectacular Iguazu Falls. The missionary is then sent over the falls, cross and all, while praying fervently to God. His martyrdom inspires the gentle Father Gabriel to scale the hazardous falls and try to reach out to the tribe. Initially, the Guarani warriors prepare to kill him, but after Gabriel plays an unforgettable solo on his oboe, they allow him to live and he gradually wins their trust.

Meanwhile, below the falls, a mercenary and slaver, Rodrigo Mendoza, played by Robert de Niro, makes his living kidnapping Guaranis and other indigenous people and selling them to the nearby plantations. He is shown to have a human side, however, caring deeply both for his brother and fiancee. However, when he finds his brother in bed with his fiancee, Mendoza stabs him in a jealous rage and then spirals into extreme guilt and depression over what he has done. Seeking repentance from the Jesuit missionaries, he begs them not to make his penance too light. Father Gabriel, who has temporarily returned from beyond the falls, takes Mendoza's armor and weapons, ties them in a satchel, and attaches the satchel to Mendoza's waist. In one of the movie's most memorable scenes, he then assigns Mendoza to scale the Iguazu Falls again and again. Mendoza, still proud and bitter despite his guilt, refuses help and proceeds to scale the falls until he collapses and cries out to God. Despite one of the Jesuit priests cutting the satchel and releasing him of his penance, he re-ties it to his waist, because they are not whom he seeks forgiveness from. Once reaching the tribe's camp, One member of the tribe comes and cuts the satchel, then releasing him from his penance, and the armor is symbolically thrown into the falls to present the tribe forgiving him. Mendoza then goes on to take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and become a Jesuit under Father Gabriel, and in time is accepted by the same Indians he used to kidnap.

Father Gabriel's mission serves as a place of sanctuary and learning for the Guaranis. Father Gabriel and his priests, Mendoza among them, teach them to carve and play flutes and violins and sing beautifully, as well as skills in reading, writing, and mathematics.

Unfortunately, the political views in Spain and Portugal begin to shift, and the two countries form a treaty in which Spain will surrender some land to Portugal for conquest and civilization by the Portuguese colonials, who seek to enslave the Guaranis and other tribes. However, because the Jesuit missions, traditionally a place of sanctuary, might impede this new plan, Papal emissary Altamirano (Ray McAnally) is sent to survey the missions and decide which, if any, to allow.

Under tremendous pressure from both the plantation owners and the politicians of Portugal, Altamirano is forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. If he rules in favor of the colonists, the indigenous peoples will become enslaved. However, if he rules in favor of the missions, the entire Jesuit order may be outlawed by the Portuguese. Altamirano visits Father Gabriel's mission and tries in vain to explain the complicated political reasons behind his closing the mission; however, Father Gabriel and Mendoza state their intention to maintain the mission should Portuguese colonials attack it. Frustrated, Altamirano laments having to "prune such a... beautiful and vibrant limb" "in order that the whole may be saved". He passes down an official policy decision that Father Gabriel's mission must be closed. The plantation owners and colonists at the foot of the falls begin to plan their first raid on the Guarani's and the mission.

Father Gabriel and Mendoza are faced with extremely difficult choices. Father Gabriel, who believes that God is love, and violence is a direct crime against that love, argues that they should trust God. Mendoza, however, decides to leave the brotherhood and break his vows in order to militarily defend the mission. Against Father Gabriel's wishes, he teaches the natives the art of war and once more takes up his sword, retrieved from the water by a boy fishing.

When the colonists stage an attack, the mission is well defended by Mendoza and the Guaranis; however, their native defenses are no match for the colonists' gunpowder and fire arrows. The attackers are nearly stymied, however, by the haunting songs of Father Gabriel and the Guarani women, who advance singing and holding a cross and a monstrance with the blessed host. At the last moment, however, the soldiers' leader orders them to attack, and they do. All the priests and most of the adult Guaranis are massacred. Only a handful of women and children escape by running away into the jungle. Days later, some children load their salvaged belongings into canoes and prepare to set off down the river, deeper into the jungle. A scorched church, Gabriel's broken oboe, and a shattered violin lying the river are the only traces left of the mission.