The Mission

1986

Directed By: Roland Joffé

Screenplay By: Robert Bolt

Starring: Robert De Niro; Jeremy Irons; Liam Neeson; Aidan Quinn 

Based On: Events surrounding "The Treaty of Madrid" ; 1750

The Mission is a 1986 British period drama film about the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in 18th Century South America. It won the Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. In April 2007 it was elected number one on the Church Times' Top 50 Religious Films list; furthermore, it is one of fifteen films listed in the category "Religion" on the Vatican film list. The music, scored by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, ranked 1st on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) Classic 100 Music in the Movies.

The soundtrack for The Mission was written by Ennio Morricone. Beginning with a liturgical piece (On Earth as It Is in Heaven) which becomes the “Spanish” theme, it moves quickly to the “Guaraní” theme, which is written in a heavily native style and uses several indigenous instruments. Later, Morricone defines The Mission theme as a duet between the “Spanish” and “Guaraní” themes. The soundtrack was recorded at CTS Lansdowne Studios in London.

Other themes throughout the movie include the Penance and Ave Maria Guaraní. In the latter, a large choir of indigenous people sing a rendition of the Ave Maria.

The soundtrack is extremely calming music, even with its occassional rise in tempo and intrumental barrage. I first discovered I studied better when listening to this soundtrack because it calmed, centered, and occupied my mind to focus on the tasks at hand, instead of thinking about other things or solving problems of the day or to come or listlessly wandering into realms of future happenings. I had always loved music, but from this point on, music played a much more important role in my life and is forever on in the background or playing in head.