Ok - I'll admit my journey was really nothing at all like the Heart of Darkness or even Apocalypse now, but I like making the comparison anyway. This movie is still powerful and for me it brings back a waterfall (pun intended) of memories from that trip. When I traveled to Argentina that year, I didn't know anything about the movie at all, let alone that it just been filmed there. I did however know about the Cataratas de Iguazu - the largest waterfalls on the planet (seen also in the James Bond extravaganza, Moonraker - you may remember Jaws going over the falls). On the way to the Falls you travel through a province called Misiones (the missions) if you're coming by way of Buenos Aires. This is where the spectacular red missions shown in the movie were filmed.
The journey was like a trip back through time (albeit on the 20th century bus as my time capsule) - but it also was a reminder how the past is always eroding. The vast tracks of rain forest were being logged before my eyes (truck after truck carrying the trees away) and the falls were about to change as well. When I was there the last stages of the largest hydroelectric dam in the world (being built in Paraguay) were nearly complete - so the Falls of today are much diminished.
Likewise, the film captured the end of two eras - first, the era of freedom for the indigenous peoples from that region and second the end of a noble social experiment attempted by Jesuits with those peoples in an attempt to keep them out of slavery and persecution. The story is a moral and ethical blueprint which is more or less timeless. In fact, Avatar used the same exact plotline - modified a bit and added a happy ending to it - something that's never yet happened on this planet. Does greed and injustice destroy people and civilizations across the ages ? yep, of course you knew that already and watching this film only reinforces the sad realization that we haven't quite evolved out of that type of behavior yet.
Although Robert De Niro was top-billed in this film, Jeremy Irons delivered what should have been an Academy Award Winning Performance and stole the show. Liam Neeson made an appearance, one of his first major roles but not one of his better roles. Robert De Niro gave a mixed performance - it seemed as though he had a hard time merging with the character. A stronger performance from him would have made this movie a true classic. The history was made personal in this film - mainly through the perspective of the Jesuits and Irons as they fought for both religious and political freedom in an oppressive age of kings. While much of the history of the conquest of Latin America was marred by tragedy, we witness through this movie a unique and remarkable vision of what the world could be - if only people cared enough to support it.
My journey into the jungle - to the missions and to the Falls was one of discovery and recognition of the loss and preservation of a past world - it was a journey of enlightenment, not darkness. Having been there I can testify to the beauty of the place, something that cannot be properly described in words or captured on film.
The journey was like a trip back through time (albeit on the 20th century bus as my time capsule) - but it also was a reminder how the past is always eroding. The vast tracks of rain forest were being logged before my eyes (truck after truck carrying the trees away) and the falls were about to change as well. When I was there the last stages of the largest hydroelectric dam in the world (being built in Paraguay) were nearly complete - so the Falls of today are much diminished.
Likewise, the film captured the end of two eras - first, the era of freedom for the indigenous peoples from that region and second the end of a noble social experiment attempted by Jesuits with those peoples in an attempt to keep them out of slavery and persecution. The story is a moral and ethical blueprint which is more or less timeless. In fact, Avatar used the same exact plotline - modified a bit and added a happy ending to it - something that's never yet happened on this planet. Does greed and injustice destroy people and civilizations across the ages ? yep, of course you knew that already and watching this film only reinforces the sad realization that we haven't quite evolved out of that type of behavior yet.
Although Robert De Niro was top-billed in this film, Jeremy Irons delivered what should have been an Academy Award Winning Performance and stole the show. Liam Neeson made an appearance, one of his first major roles but not one of his better roles. Robert De Niro gave a mixed performance - it seemed as though he had a hard time merging with the character. A stronger performance from him would have made this movie a true classic. The history was made personal in this film - mainly through the perspective of the Jesuits and Irons as they fought for both religious and political freedom in an oppressive age of kings. While much of the history of the conquest of Latin America was marred by tragedy, we witness through this movie a unique and remarkable vision of what the world could be - if only people cared enough to support it.
My journey into the jungle - to the missions and to the Falls was one of discovery and recognition of the loss and preservation of a past world - it was a journey of enlightenment, not darkness. Having been there I can testify to the beauty of the place, something that cannot be properly described in words or captured on film.
Don't expect a happy ending - but do expect a great story...
Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews
