India, Oct. 27 -- 'The Mission' is a 1986 British period drama film about the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in 18th-century South America. The film is rather complex, though compelling and spiritually stirring. In essence, it is about the stand that the Spanish Jesuits take to protect the identity of a remote South American indigenous tribe (the Guarani people). The film is intertwined in the political pressures of a colonial power, the predatory racism of European settlers who are pro-slavery and the pragmatic needs of the Jesuits (and the Church).

'The Mission' is based on historical facts surrounding the 1750 Treaty of Madrid, in which Spain ceded part of its territories in Paraguay to Portugal, mainly the areas where the Jesuits...