OTTAWA REPORT

Page 2

An Indian massacre that took place in the jungles of South America 200 years ago is the subject of a new movie that's getting a lot of attention. It's called The Mission and it stars Robert DeNiro. It's already won some major awards in France and England and it's sure to be in the running for an Oscar this spring.

The movie starts with Robert DeNiro working as a slave-trader. He goes into the jungle, kills a few Guarani Indians, kidnaps a dozen more and sells them into slavery. In the next scene he kills his brother in a jealous rage. He becomes severely depressed so he decides to change his ways by becoming a priest. He goes back to the jungle to live with the Guaranis and build a mission.

But the mission ends up being a pawn in the conflict between the Spanish and the Portuguese. The Portuguese surround the mission and make no secret of their murderous intentions. Robert DeNiro, the priest, is then forced to wrestle his conscience a second time. He has to decide whether to pick up a sword and defend the Guarani or turn the other cheek. He decides to break his sacred vows and fight alongside the Guarani. The Portuguese attack and although DeNiro and the Guarani men put up a good fight, the Portuguese slaughter them, the women and the children in a bloody massacre.

It's a depressing way to end a movie but I think The Mission is worth seeing for

a couple of reasons. First, it is a good movie. The photography is stunning. The action is first-rate. The music is terrific.

One thing I especially liked was seeing so many Indians on the screen. One Indian in a movie is tokenism but a hundred Indians in a movie is like being at a family reunion. For example, the ten-year-old Guarani boy who was DeNiro's sidekick looked exactly like one of my nephews. The boy reminded me, if I need any reminding, that we as Indian people are all brothers and sisters under the skin, no matter how or where we live.

The second reason I think the movie is worth the price of admission is that it's based on actual events. It's therefore a good, eye-opening lesson on south America history.

But I should stress here that The Mission is not perfect - far from it. I have several serious complaints about the movie that probably won't be noticed by the critics and they shouldn't stop you from going - but here they are:

What really bugs me is that the only time the movie goes out of its way to admire or respect the Guarani is when they're imitating the Europeans. The Spanish and the Portuguese characters are suitably impressed when the Guarani - a race of people right out of the jungle - not only make violins but play them and play them extremely well.

My objection is that the Guaranis are not respected or appreciated for themselves. For instance, the movie shows Guarani men carrying blowguns but it doesn't show the extraordinary work that goes into making one. The Guarani mastered the complicated task of making one using the simplest of tools. Believe me, making a blowgun is a lot harder than going to a hardware store and buying a piece of plastic tubing.

One other thing the movie doesn't show is the skill needed to use a blowgun and use it well enough to feed a family. Imagine, for example, making your own poisoned darts and trying to shoot a monkey out of a leafy jungle tree that's six stories high. I tried using a blowgun in a museum once, and it's not the same as shooting spitballs from a straw.

There are other aspects of Guarani life the film could have showed but didn't but then I've got other, bigger complaints. The Mission, after all, is not so much about what happens to the Guarani as it is about what happens to Robert DeNiro. In fact, the cold-blooded murder of a hundred Indian men, women and children is just a dramatic backdrop for one white man's moral dilemma.

But the crowning insult comes just after the massacre, in the film's very last frame. You may be tempted at this point, if you're like me, to remind yourself that the moie is not just ancient history - that the same things are still happening today. At this point in the film the closing message crawls across the screen: "The Indians of South America are still engaged in a struggle to defend their land and culture Many of the priests inspired by faith and love who support their cause do so with their lives."

It's true, priests are still dying in support of the Indian "struggle." But what about the Indians?

Wake up Hollywood! Wake up Canada! Wake up world!

Indian people - hundreds of them - are still being murdered in South and Central America. Their deaths are just as real as any priest's but they're not the central focus of this movie. I know that The Mission is meant to be sympathetic to the Indians - past and present but I'd hate to think what the result would have been if the producers were unsympathetic. If their aim was to stimulate discussion about South American history, it worked.

It's got me talking about it - and I say you should definitely see it for yourself.