El último misionero

This movie is a gift. Beautiful cinematography, spellbinding adventure, powerful acting and historical accuracy all wound up in a wonderful story line. It is not only a study of the French in the New World (with an emphasis on the Jesuit experience) but also of the native Indians which they encountered. Instead of trying to simplify each group by stereotypes the film sympathically delves into variances in each culture and how individuals reacted and interacted differently to the changing environment and ultimately an acceptance of each other. Unlike other films that have an agenda either to glorify or attack Catholicism (i.e. colonial expansion) or to praise or defame Indian life (enlightened shamans vs dumb savages), Black Robe shows its characters in moments of incredible faith, insight and personal triumph along with all their mistakes and failings. For me that is the theme of the movie as it is more or less a commentary on the human experience then as now. What a pity that few movies these days seek to explore anything other than the obvious and dish out a stale formula of sex and action with a mind-numbing blur of special effects. Black Robe will cause you not only to rethink your take on the past but more importantly will allow you to examine your own personal value system in today's world. This movie will stay with you for the rest of your life.

This film made major concessions to political correctness in its portrayal of the Indians, who are depicted in a considerably more flattering light here than they are in Brian Moore's novel. This could also be considered the romanticizing "Dances With Wolves" effect. The novel drew some (unjust) criticism here in Canada for its uncompromising approach.

The actual history is fairly readily available. "The Jesuits in North America in the 17th Century" by the great American historian Francis Parkman is the standard 19th c. work on the proselytizing efforts of the French Récollet and Jesuit fathers.

Still, if you are not very familiar with the subject, this film is a strong, and quite gruesome, introduction. I'm not aware of a lot of films about the colonial period which are as tough. Not "Last of the Mohicans", or the adult westerns from the '50's, in my opinion. "Little Big Man", perhaps. Or possibly "A Man Called Horse", which I haven't seen. The priest in the story is a composite of actual missionaries, and the impact of this historical adventure thriller is heightened for me knowing that everything in this film happened, and often a whole lot worse.

The rights and wrongs, the pros and cons, of the cultural collision of Europeans with the autochthonous peoples are still too contentious, so I would rather not get into them. There is a lot here to brood about afterwards, and chances are good that you'll seek out a copy of the novel -- it's not very long, and a lot easier to read than James Fenimore Cooper. If you're American or Canadian, this is an important part of our shared past.

"Black Robe" is one of the very best Canadian feature films, with a solid cast led by Lothaire Bluteau with August Schellenberg and Tantoo Cardinal in support. The presence of an Australian director, Bruce Beresford, perhaps kept the film from turning into a well-meaning but dry Canadian history lesson.

I'm a history student of second grade of a french canadian university. So, in a history point of view, I can assure you that this movie is simply amazing. The story is about a jesuite priest who wants to bring catholic faith to the Indians of the french colony Nouvelle-France (New France, the future Quebec of Canada) in the seventeen century. In fact, there was a lot of jesuite doing that by that time. The priest and his young translator ask the Algonquins natives to guide them to the Hurons natives. That is also exactly correct! But in their quest,they had some problems with the Iroquois natives. And that is exactly right! At the end, the priest reach the Hurons. The chief of the tribe tells that if they accept the god of the priest, they will become weak and their ennemies will kill them. And that's what's gonna happen! In fact, the Hurons were the first Indians of New France to accept catholic religion. I saw the movie with the french dubbing. The Indians of that time didn't knew how to prononce R. So, in the movie, they say : obe noie, instead of Robe Noire (Black Robe). I don't know if they said black obe in the English version. In one scence, the priest tells the Indian sorcerer that he is reading a breviaire (book of prayers). And the sorcerer said: beviaire, witout the R. The way the natives are dressed and wears their hairs is also very exact in an historical view. This is not only a great movie, but an amazing reconstitution. Natives actors are great, with August Schlleberg, the always good Tantoo Cardinal and the charming young Sandrine Holt. Lothaire Blutheau is one of the best french canadian actor (see him in Jesus of Montreal). This is absolutely a superb piece of work ! And some kind of perfect history book.

Wow, what a fascinating movie and different kind of film. One really can't get the full impact of this through a review. Anyone who has seen this, I think would agree with me on that.

If I had skipped over the credits and someone had told me Terrence Malick (Days Of Heaven, The New World, The Thin Red Line and Badlands) and directed this film, I would have believed it. Visually, this is his kind of film. I wonder if this movie inspired parts of his latest effort, The New World? There are a number of similarities. Black Robe has the same kind of beautiful and haunting images Malick's films possess but the director in this case is Bruce Bereford, the man who directed Driving Miss Daisy a couple of years before doing this film. DMD also is beautifully-filmed.

Black Robe is not just a piece of art. As great as it is visually, this is a powerful story of a well-intentioned Jesuit priest in the early 17th century who travels to "New France" (upstate New York/French Canadian territory) attempting to convert a few area tribes to Christianity. To unbelievers, that seems pushy but Biblically-speaking it is not. Jesus commanded his followers to do just that (Matt. 28:18-20) , so the priest is only doing what missionaries have done for centuries. He also is a good man, stays strong in his beliefs regardless of his own well-being and is a gentle soul. Kudos to the filmmakers for being fair to him.

The Algonquins and the Hurons are also shown with their beliefs, too, and their cultures which obviously were in contrast to the white European-based priest. All sides are shown fairly in this movie, with both positive and negative traits of all.

I was shocked at a few scenes in here, not expecting them as the film has such a gentle flow to it before anything dramatic happens. We see a few sexual scenes and then some brutal violence. The Hurons, particularly, do not want any invasion of their privacy and culture and are openly hostile to the priest and the Algonquins. The story transforms from a quiet Malick-type "New World" poetic piece to a violent, suspenseful film and the question is, will the "good guys" make it out alive?

The actors in here, perhaps, are not names most people outside Canada are familiar with, including me, but Lothaire Blueteau as Father Laforgue, Aden Young as his assistant "Daniel" and Sandrine Holt as Daniel's Algonguin lover "Anuuka" are all very, very good. All the characters in this film are very credible people, steadfast in their own beliefs and they come across as realistic people. Most films have unreal people with unrealistic dialog....but not in this movie.

Another big plus was the soundtrack: a lush, haunting score throughout.

Without spoiling the ending, or adding political/theological agendas my own, let me just add that if you enjoy a beautiful-looking movie which also has a thoughtful, haunting story with honest characters, you should check this out. Highly recommended.

This film is brilliant, because it defies conventional stereotypes of European settlers and American Indians. This movie strives and succeeds in its portrayal of Indians and whites as human beings, rather than as villains or saints. Those who feel this movie would show the Indians as noble savages will be gravelly disappointed. The Indians in "Black Robe" can be cruel, and have sexual mores that would disgust the more prudish viewers. The affect of the Jesuit missionaries among the Indians of Quebec is not romanticized or glossed over, nor are the Jesuits shown as evil white devils. All humans in this movie have their flaws and weaknesses and all act "morally" according to their own cultures' expectations. Beresford has crafted a marvelous film that ought to be required viewing in college history courses across the country.

The cinematography is beautiful, whether we are watching the gilded altars of the cathedrals of Renaissance France, the iridescent glow of a fire at an Indian village, the cramped quarters of an Indian longhouse, or the awesome and heavenly magnificence of the Canadian woodlands and what appears to be the St. Lawrance River. This movie does feature explicit sexual acts and gruesome violence, so I would not recommend this movie at all for very young children. I think most teenagers can handle this film. I suppose this film is very hard to find at your local video rental store, but do yourselves a favor and find it. Your efforts will be amply rewarded.