I haven't yet managed to post my review of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but I'll let End of the Spear sneak in ahead while it's fresh in my mind, because I'm afraid if you don't see it soon, you'll have to wait for the DVD. Not that we had a hard time finding a showing yesterday, but it had already come and gone at our first choice theater.

Half a lifetime ago I read Elizabeth Elliot's Through Gates of Splendor. Subsequently I lost track of the story of the five American missionaries who were killed in Ecuador, but I could never totally forget it, especially since we have several friends in Ecuador—including some who were there at the time—and even sang in choir for a while with one of the children of the slain men.

Despite these connections, the story seemed "long ago and far away," so it was almost shocking to have an opportunity to learn "the rest of the story." Particularly because at last I could hear it from the other side. As I sat in the theater, the movie critic in the back of my mind starting saying things like, "That's all speculation; they don't know what really happened on the beach [where the killings occurred]." Suddenly I realized I was wrong: At the end of Through Gates of Splendor they didn't know—but they do now.

End of the Spear does a particularly good job of depicting the two clashing cultures respectfully and realistically. So often in tales of that sort one is ennobled and the other villanized; here both the Waodani and the encroaching outside world are shown to be nothing more nor less than human: virtuous and foolish, comic and tragic, quick-witted and bull-headed.

One concern I always have about movie versions of real events is how much liberty has been taken with the truth. I understand that some details were altered to fit the movie format, but I was reassured to note that Steve Saint, son of one of the missionaries, said, "seeing it, this is more of 'a true story' than 'based on a true story.'"

A moving story from the film's website (see "Behind the Spear") tells how the Waodani's first reaction to the idea of the film was negative. On being told about the Columbine tragedy, however, they agreed to make the movie in hopes the story of their escape from senseless and brutal violence will help others who seem just as trapped as they were.

End of the Spear is well worth the time, effort, and money to see. I don't say that about many movies. Be sure to stay through the credits to learn a Waodani view of why Americans are so fat.
Posted by sursumcorda on Monday, February 6, 2006 at 2:03 pm | Edit
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The movie is gripping. The five missionaries' refusal to fight back and the forgiveness shown by the missionaries' family showed the Auca/Waodani the power of Christianity. Steve Saint did take a few liberties. I don't think he held a spear to Mincaye in the last scene, but it makes for good drama. Some evangelical critics -- including the Youderian family -- are upset that the actor who played Nate Saint is openly homosexual. So what! They had a contract to honor. In a CT interview, Steve Saint commented, "Narnia is about vertical reconciliation, and End of the Spear is horizontal reconciliation. But both stories show what can happen when the Deeper Magic is revealed."

Posted by Mark on Thursday, February 09, 2006 at 8:00 pm
I wonder how anyone dares object to the choice of the actor who plays Nate Saint and the adult Steve Saint, if Steve Saint himself does not. I win no "tolerance" awards, and firmly believe there are some situations where it is not only acceptable but right to discriminate on the basis of non-celibate homosexual behavior. I just don't see this as one of them. Would the critics object if the music of Tchaikovsky had been used as part of the score?

Posted by SursumCorda on Saturday, February 11, 2006 at 9:47 pm
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