Topic 13 - Teaching the Jesuit Expulsion through Film

Roland Joffe's The Mission (1986) is a very moving movie about the Guarani, the Jesuits, and the Spanish/Portuguese.  The action takes place along the Argentine/ Brazilian/Paraguayan borderlands in the mid-18th Century.  The events portrayed are fairly accurate (Guarani War, expulsion of the Jesuits), but like all major theatrical productions there are some historical errors.  The most glaring error is the portrayal of the Jesuits as uniformly good for the Guarani, when in reality the Jesuits represented a different form of imperialism than the Brazilian bandeirantes or their Spanish counterparts.  Despite these limitations, the film does give students a visually stunning insight into the time and place.  The movie is emotionally draining, however.

Here is the trailer plus two other popular scenes from the movie:

The movie is well worth the 2 hour time investment, so I won't ruin the ending for you in case you want to watch it (it is currently streaming on Amazon video).

For those of you who plan on teaching some day, here is an interesting take on one instructor's use of the movie in a World History course:  The Mission: The Film and Its Music by Elizabeth F. Barkley, Foothill College

And here is a site with information on how to use The Mission in a secondary school environment: Teach with Movies: The Mission