End of the Spear (2005)

Wonderfully offbeat film!

Excellent, a Must See

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The first must-see film of the year.

In 1943 Amazon Basin, Ecuador, Mincayani as a boy survives a massacre in his village as the Waodani tribe live in a never-ending series of revenge killings. Dayumae is a native girl taken by outsiders. The spear is the preferred weapon. In 1956, a group of missionaries fly their plane and make contact with the help of Dayumae. There are misunderstandings and Mincayani's group kills the missionaries. Despite the murders, the dead missionaries' families continue the work.This is a message movie and I love the message. Louie Leonardo is charismatic as Mincayani. The rest of the cast is filled with B-level actors. This is not a dramatic affair but a compelling story nevertheless. I choose to love this movie for its message and the quiet heroism that is more superhuman than any superhero movie.

This movie is obvious religious propaganda, paid for by organized Christian religion. This film is written from a Western point of view and fails to see or even address that other cultures, like the Waorani have different cultural beliefs and that these beliefs may also be valid. Why should we homogenize the whole world to believe in God (Waengongi) and his son? How is this belief relevant to this tribe and their way of life? Does this belief really make them better people? Is the way they are living wrong? What constitutes murder in our culture does not necessarily hold true for all cultures. Our disgust for the Waorani killing each other and our need to "save" them, like they're children, is just Westerners, once again, feeling morally superior to the rest of the world. It fails to address the larger issues at hand here like whether or not the missionaries should be there at all with all their moral superiority. Also the fact that these missions paved the way for the oil companies to come in and steal and devastate these tribal lands. I sat through this whole movie and I found no redeeming value in it at all. In this day and age, I would expect more in-depth thought from a film.

Heres a fancy piece of rubbish. Total BS. The device of missionaries were used in this instance to pacify the indigenous (AS HAS BEEN THE CASE 99% OF THE TIME IN Latin American HISTORY) not only for reaping "souls" but open jungle for Texaco's oil industry. After texaco was finally forced to leave because of massive environmental degradation the jungle and communities are still being negatively effected by the imperialist presence of the church and the corporate entity. There is a really great documentary that counters this glammed up big budget film, cant remember the name. it even interviews that women from End of the Spear who had began the mission, and she pretty much confirms my above statements, but still with her head 10 miles up her paternalistic arse. Still adhering to the white mans burden doctrine about saving the "savage" from himself. End of the Spear...Get Bent! its movies like this that are made in such a way and with known actors and large budgets that create the disinformation that we are fed everyday.

Chase Ellison – just that name is enough for you to know that the movie you are going to watch will be a good one. And he is not the only star that shines amongst the actors in that production - Chad Allen who plays the role of a missioner (Chase plays as his son) acts amazingly and I truly enjoyed the father- son relationship they portrayed at the begging scenes. Here is a quote from the movie illustrating that relationship:Nate Saint: Do you know how far away the sun is? Young Steve Saint: 93 million miles. Nate Saint: Do you know that that's just a fraction of how much I love you?The cinematography of the movie is really nice – there are many beautiful nature scenes most of which are very vivid. Most scenes have powerful messages hidden in them – messages about love, forgiveness and complete dedication.