I saw "End of the Spear" last night. I could not help but see the film not only through Christian eyes, but through a Christian pacifist's eyes. The movie is a remarkable account of a group of missionaries intent on spreading the gospel to everyone, including an obscure, violent tribe in the Amazon rain forest. When a son of one of the missionaries asked if they would shoot the natives, his father replied, "We can't shoot them, they're not ready for heaven yet, and we are." This line was indicative of the movie as a whole. The message: war will never end until people themselves refuse to go to war. But the movie doesn't take this stance for political reasons, rather for Christian ones.
Another poinent line the film was when reflecting on a missionary who was killed by the tribe: "He didn't spear back, in hopes that one day those who speared him would live well." Themes of self sacrifice on the part of those who cailm non-violence permeate the film. There is no doubt that those two died did so willingly as a statement of their motiviations and callings.
Most of the movie is in subtitles, the acting is fairly discent. My only real beef with the film is the score. As a musician, the orchestrations are hard to get past, somewhat trite, the entire score seemingly consists of about 6 chords in two keys. But an incredbile story about Christians who practice non-violence in a violent world.
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