What is the fine line between altruism and narcissism, and what happens when “higher-calling” religious beliefs blur those demarcations? That vague space is not exactly what celebrated doc filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine are trying to resolve in their compelling new documentary “The Mission.” Honestly, their story is more subtle and nuanced; a fairer and balanced look at the ideas of self-sacrifice, an empathetic examination of a tragedy, and yet a sobering probing of good intentions and the paths that lead us astray.
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But depending on your beliefs, religious or otherwise, you might find yourself a little less charitable with your assessment of the subject of their documentary.
There’s a multitude of stories at play in “The Mission” by the award-winning filmmakers of the critically acclaimed doc “Boys State.” It’s a multi-layered chronicle of those benevolent motivations gone wrong, an obsessive fantasy, and the naïve seduction of selflessness (or is that a would-be martyr?). It’s also about the narrative of a dreamer, a cautionary tale about the hubris behind missionaries, particularly American Christian ones, and the arrogance involved in believing found communities need to share your belief systems. Oh, if that’s not intriguing enough (and perhaps more important), there is a young man’s tragic death at the center of it to unpack.
“The Mission” is the story of John Chau, a young American missionary who was killed when he went to a remote island in the Indian Ocean trying to convert the Sentinelese people who lived there to Christianity. Chau’s story went viral and made shocking headlines in 2018 when it was learned that he was killed by arrows while attempting to contact and communicate with these native indigenous people.
An unknown people of unidentified beliefs, religions, culture, and tongue, the Sentinelese are the sole inhabitants of North Sentinel Island, one of the few highly isolated human communities in the world. And because of a vision, a fascination, an aspiration that he harbored for many years, Chau chose the Sentinelese as the people that he could save, enlighten, and rescue.
And this is where your own personal moral values may split you early on—though “The Mission” strives for an equilibrium of ideas, thoughts, and honest feelings about what transpired, how, and why. Of these many disparate themes and notions, “The Mission” tries to balance its sympathies for Chau—by all accounts, a well-meaning, idealistic, and promising young man with a bright future ahead of him—and the cautionary ideas of colonialism, imposing your beliefs on others and even, if you fuck around you might find out.
Again, this harsh framing (mine) is subjective, “The Mission” is never that callous; there’s a life that’s been tragically lost at the center of this story. And yet, it’s hard not to be frustrated by this young man, full of promise, who senselessly threw it all away for what often feels like a dream so naïve, foolish, and irrational that even his own father was estranged from him for years.
“Outsiders coming [to these places] with friendship in their heart can do a lot of damage,” one talking head puts it eloquently about guileless cultural interlopers who are self-important enough to believe more basic cultures need their wisdom and beliefs.
“The Mission” tells the story of how John Chau became who he became before his untimely death—driven, idealistic, auspicious, and maybe a little deluded— while straddling many other narratives. They include how Chau’s fixation came into being, those who witnessed this passion grow, those who worried about it, and then a host of anthropological, theological, and cultural experts who politely call attention to the hazards of evangelical, colonial, radical, and imperialist beliefs and the many consequences and costs of zealous crusades.
Tellingly, Chau’s father only factors in the doc slightly. Obviously saddened beyond belief, and in need of ongoing condolences, from his various comments of disquiet, one senses his son’s religious fervor and ideas not only alienated him early but portended doom.
Chau’s father also gave the filmmakers access to his son’s diary, and they carefully and judiciously use it to communicate his state of mind (“Is this Satan’s last stronghold?” Chau writes in a moment that seems almost comically Malick-ian in its spiritual frou frou). Perhaps they let it speak for itself and or let the viewer decide, but it’s hard to distinguish it from dangerously blind naiveté and even an unsound mind.
Even Chau’s friends in the church speak to off-piste he became. “From my vantage point, John was pursuing a fantasy,” one says.
A little overlong— “The Mission” tells what feels like a complete story and then still goes on for another twenty minutes—it’s maybe closer to the end of the doc when the talking heads’ politeness gives way to something more closely resembling exasperation, as subjects finally get into the ideas of a messiah complex and a sense of idealism masquerading as god’s calling.
Frustratingly, the intelligent Chau, half Chinese and half American, seemed to be highly cognizant of history and the perilous notions of imperialism, colonialism, and white savior preoccupations, and yet still seemed to commit the same sins nonetheless almost to the letter (not only that but highly prepared, read, studied, etc.).
This is where both religion and Chau’s own vanity, conceit, and self-absorption play an uglier factor in tipping the scales towards an unreasonable view of this mission. Subjects talk about the seduction of religion, being a favored son, walking a higher path, and other vainglorious ideas of sacrifice that actually just speak to martyrdom. Then there’s Chau himself and his diary, a self-styled explorer, but perhaps one more concerned with God’s favor than the actual people he hoped to convert and communicate with.
Chau romanticized the Sentinelese people, stylizing them, seeing them as exotic, as other, and therefore, completely misunderstanding them nor seeing their humanity; only what he could deliver to them in their untouched paradise of Eden, which lacks so much self-awareness and speaks to extraordinary ego.
As an intriguing and complex portrait of humanism vs. idealism (to be civil about it), there’s also a fine line between faith and madness, and to their credit, “The Mission” filmmakers leave it up to the audience to decide where they stand; perhaps the sign of sharp filmmakers hoping to leave their viewer hashing it out for hours afterward (something that doc certainly engenders). Ultimately, Chau believed he was being called on to go on this glamorized exploration of selflessness, but whether the film dares to speak it into existence or not, it’s not difficult to discern who he was actually hearing. [B+]
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