The Mission - "La Misión"

The movie is set during the Jesuit Reductions, a programme by which Jesuit missionaries set up missions independent of the Spanish state to teach christianity to the native, in this case, particularly the Guarani indians community .

It tells the story of a Spanish Jesuit priest, Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons), who enters the South American jungle to build a mission to convert a community of Guarani Indians to Christianity.
He is later joined by a reformed Portuguese mercenary, Rodrigo Mendoza (Robert De Niro), who sees the Jesuit mission as a sanctuary and a place of forgiveness for his murder of his brother.
The mission, which was once under Spanish protection, has been handed over to the Portuguese while the Vatican (represented by Papal emissary Alta Mirano) has ordered the Jesuits to withdraw from the territory above the falls.
Eventually, a combined Spanish and Portuguese force attacks the mission, failing to see the simple life of the Guarani as anything but threatening (contrary to Father Gabriel and Mendoza).

This movie was filmed at the Iguazú Falls (1986), Misiones Province. You can also visit at that province, the ruins of San Ignacio Miní, Santa Ana, Nuestra Señora de Loreto and Santa María la Mayor which lie at the heart of a tropical forest. They are the impressive remains of five Jesuit missions, built in the land of the Guaranis during the 17th and 18th centuries. Each is characterized by a specific layout and a different state of conservation.

The Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis in Argentina and Brazil (1983-1984) were declared as World Heritage by UNESCO, considering as having outstanding universal value.