For a film about Christian missionaries, this one verges on Horror. Not for the weak of heart--or stomach. One glaring mistake was a veneration of St. Joan of Arc. This film was set in the early 17th century. St. Joan wasn't canonized (through the efforts of Therese of Lisieux later sainted herself, among others) until 1920. There are some theological problems, but they have nothing to do with the film itself and everything to do with the way Roman Catholics chose to present the good news of eternal life and how they chose to describe the afterlife--or their lack of description based on ignorance. Too, when you are baptizing someone who is dying, wouldn't you want to speak their own language, especially if you are fluent in it, instead of Latin--which isn't even your native language? And why are you whipping your back with a rough pine branch until it bleeds after lusting for that Algonquin girl when a simple 'I'm sorry, Jesus. Please give me the strength to fight temptation and to remember that I am celibate by choice so I won't be weighed down by earthly matters' would be far more effective? All in all, this film stands the test of time, and I only give it a 7 rating because of the Joan of Arc mistake and because of the unnecessary rambunctious copulation scenes.

A film adaptation of Brian Moore's novel of the same title, which I haven't read. It concerns a 1634 expedition, starting from Quebec, up the St. Lawrence, and beyond to a Huron mission, led by Jesuit LaForgue, who wears the traditional black robe and broad-rimmed hat. Another member, Daniel, speaks Algonquin, and initially professes an interest in becoming a Jesuit, if he returns. There are also several canoes filled with Algonquin guides and some of their family. This includes Chomina, his wife, and marriageable daughter, Annuka. Along the way, they encounter another Algonquin tribe, as well as Mohawks, who take them prisoner, and Hurons suffering a smallpox epidemic.To me, the most revealing character is Daniel: the laymen who accompanied LaForgue on this expedition. When LaForgue talks up the advantages of Christianity to the Indians, Daniel notes that they are already acting more like true Christians than most Europeans, in that they live for each other, and forgive things that most Europeans would not forgive. They also have their own idea of an afterlife. They believe that the spirits of the deceased emerge at night to hunt the spirits of departed animals. They are not interested in a place where most of the spirits are Westerners, and where the spirits aren't allowed to smoke tobacco or make love to female spirits . Daniel, having the advantage of speaking Algonquin, feels more at ease with their beliefs and customs. Thus, he soon begins a sexual relationship with Annuka. However, it's clear she's not a virgin, as he watches her making love with an Indian in their Tepee. Also, she flaunts her sexuality toward the Iroquois guard of their tepee, when awaiting death in the morrow, to chance a possible rendering of the guard unconscious. This promiscuity doesn't particularly bother Daniel, although LaForgue considers it a sin for him to lust after even an unmarried girl. Annuka's father discourages her from continuing a relationship with Daniel, claiming he is ugly and a stupid European. Annuka thinks it's very strange that LaForgue isn't interested in sexual relations. In consequence, she suspects he may be a devil. But Daniel explains that his position requires him to be celibate. The last part of the film follows LaForgue, alone of the original party. Thus, we are left wondering what became of Daniel and Annuka, who are left at the threshold of entering the Huron mission.When LaForgue enters the Huron mission, and finds all the Europeans killed, except Rev. Jerome, Jerome tells him that the Hurons killed them because they blamed them for the smallpox epidemic, thinking that this plague was unleashed on them because they resisted converting to Christianity. Historically, frontier doctor Marcus Whitman along with other Europeans, were massacred because the Indians noticed that his European measles patients mostly recovered, whereas his Indian patients seldom did. I agree that LaForge and the Indians(Algonquin and Huron)gradually became more tolerant of the other's customs and thinking. He began to see the Indians as more than just fodder for his conversion ambitions. At the end, the Hurons ask if he loved them. After some delay, he answered "yes". Then, he baptized them with the understanding that this would not cure or prevent their smallpox sickness, but would qualify them to a chance of entering heaven.

Released in 1991 and based on Brian Moore's researched novel, "Black Robe" relays the story of a young Jesuit priest in 1634 visiting the French settlement that later became Quebec City. Father LaForgue is assigned to a distant Huron mission accompanied by a young quasi-believing assistant and a family of Algonquin Indians. The group faces challenges beyond the harsh realities of the river trek itself, including an attack by hostile Iroquois. Of course the Indians question the "strange ways" of the priest and his dark attire and wonder whether he is a demon. Instead of addressing him as "Father" they simply call him "Black Robe." I've viewed "Black Robe" three times now and it never fails to capture my attention from beginning to end (the film runs 101 minutes), which is why I don't get the criticism that it's somehow unabsorbing. What strikes me most is the raw realism. Viewing "Black Robe" is the next best thing to going back in time and viewing the events firsthand.Other highlights include: Lothaire Bluteau's solid performance as the missionary priest; LaForgue's assistant, well played by Aden Young, and his developing love for the daughter of the Algonquin leader, played by the beautiful Sandrine Holt; the Algonquins themselves, particular the patriarch; the freaky midget shaman of a band of Montagnais natives; the harrowing events at an Iroquois fort; the subtext on the truth or falsity of spiritual beliefs, both of the Jesuits and the Indians; and the spectacular cinematography of the Quebec wilderness (mostly the Saint Lawrence River, filmed on location). The film successfully shows the desolate, untamed nature of the NE before the mass encroachment of Europeans.Some may wonder: How does it compare to "Last of the Mohicans" or "Dances with Wolves," two contemporary films also featuring realistic portrayals of AmerIndians? Of the two, "Black Robe" is closer to "Last of the Mohicans" since the story takes place in the East and there aren't any cowboys & Indians, although the story takes place well over a century earlier. The film differs from both in that there aren't really any Hollywood contrivances, including conventional movie plotting. As great and generally believable as those other films are, "Black Robe" shows the harsher, bleaker reality, which some may translate as boring.However, as raw and realistic as "Black Robe" is, it could've been more so, considering that it fails to show one disturbing reality of Eastern AmerIndian culture, as detailed in Moore's book (pointed out by another reviewer): The film avoids depicting the native practice of ritual cannibalism on a dead infant, a custom that was common among the tribes of the Eastern woodlands. To consume an enemy's flesh was to absorb his power. The heart of an especially courageous foe (such as Jesuit martyr St. Jean Brebeuf) would be eaten by tribal leaders. But, don't get me wrong here, I'm kind of glad the movie left this aspect out."Black Robe" has the same vibe as 2007's "Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan," so if you appreciate that style of raw-realism you'll likely value "Black Robe." Needless to say, if you have ADHD or require constant explosions to maintain your attention, stay far away.GRADE: A

Brian Moore grew up in Northern Ireland and considered joining the priesthood before he moved to Canada and abandoned his Catholic religion later in life. I've not read this nor any of his other novels, but I am told that on several occasions he explored the idea of a priest losing his faith, and I wonder if perhaps, in spite of his outward angst against the Irish clergy, he wasn't in fact (like so many ex-Christian writers) struggling to cast of his guilt and to justify abandoning his own vocation.In "Black Robe," for which Moore wrote the script as well as the book, he has chosen not to inject overtly anti-clerical themes. Perhaps he preferred to let the times speak for themselves: the French clergy in North America did most certainly believe in their mission to convert the Natives to Christianity, and no one believed in any sort of philosophical or cultural relativism. To the modern, deracinated and denatured man, this is offensive in and of itself and there would be no need to add the demonising of clerics so ubiquitous to contemporary cinema.But to those who dare question the modern liberal conscience, this film is done accurately enough to sympathise with and appreciate the Jesuit's mission. The French are portrayed as sympathetic but imperfect: the clerics are naïve and occasionally condescending in their dealings with the Natives, but as we watch their efforts unfold Moore, whether he meant to or not, shows that they truly wanted and tried to understand and relate to these poor souls they ministered to.And to pray for the salvation of these "poor, savage souls" was hardly condescending, and not only from a Catholic standpoint. For the Natives, life was short, violent and fearsome; death was always around the corner. Their religious beliefs were tightly wound with their daily routine and way of life (as they are in all pre-"Enlightened" societies, including those of Europe and European North America) and with life so tenebrous they feared anything innovative would completely destroy them. "We have accepted the gifts of the French, and we have come to depend on them. That will be the end of us." This is evident in Chomina's gradual coming to grips with Christianity and with the Abbé Laforgue (known to the Natives as "Black Robe"), but his unwillingness to let go and accept Baptism even on his deathbed. The Huron sense that the transformative power of the Baptismal water is so profound that they will "cease to be Huron," that their enemies, the Iroquois, will sense their weakness and destroy them.And yet, Moore has so successfully replicated the brutish world of the Native American that the viewer who can overcome modern Political Correctness will indeed find himself wishing not for their destruction but that they and their enemies could, in one sense, cease to be Huron, cease to be Iroquois, for their own sake and for each other's, before it is too late! And they, too, understand this: as Abbé Laforgue reminds his young companion, "These people are gifted with intelligence." It is significant that Abbé Laforgue himself is perceptive enough to realise that fact, even though their intelligence is one that he can never understand. The movie ends on an apparently hopeful note and then reveals--through text--something utterly depressing about the near future, reflecting perhaps Moore's reluctance to show a happy triumphant Christian ending. But Moore neglects to tell us the complete story or to allow us to see hints of the ultimate triumph.Romanticists will be sorely disappointed by "Black Robe," demolishing as it does that nice little myth of the Noble Savage, which has never amounted to anything more than a childish fairy tale. Leftists, too, many not appreciate it, for though it depicts the characters from their own and from each other's perspectives, the reality is that pre-colonial Native American culture was often excruciatingly cruel: as Chomina himself confesses, he is as selfish and sinful as any white man. There is neither postmodern white guilt complex here, nor the crass Cowboy and Indian games of old Westerners. In fact, there is very little in this film with which to sympathise from the standpoint of the modern "Enlightened" liberal conscience, and thank God for that! At last we have a movie about real human beings defined by their own time. The cinematography, moreover, is stunning: one truly feels the profoundity of the loneliness in the vast empty continent of North America. One complaint, though: if Moore went to this much trouble to portray the Natives speaking their own languages and Abbé Laforgue praying in Latin, couldn't the French have spoken to each other in FRENCH and not English??