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End of the Spear is a docudrama film that recounts the story of Operation Auca, in which five American missionaries attempted to evangelize the Waodani people of the jungle of Ecuador. Taking a unique spin on the 1950s true life epic which saw the five male missionaries speared by members of the Waodani tribe, the movie tells the story from the perspective of Steve Saint, the son of one of the murdered missionaries, and one of his father's killers, a young man named Mincayani. The two eventually form a special bond.
Tagline: "Dare to make contact!"
Movie production
Released January 20, 2006 in just under 1200 theaters nationwide, The End of the Spear is Jim Hanon's second movie production and his first major one. It came after a less-than-satisfactory (grossing under $70,000 USD in a limited release) documentary "Beyond the Gates of Splendor", which told the tale of the American missionaries in much the same way as Elisabeth Elliot (wife of one of the murder victims, Jim Elliot) did in her book, Through Gates of Splendor.
Despite the international attention that the murders originally received, critics were surprised that Every Tribe Entertainment (Spear's distributor) was able to garner such a wide release for a low-budget film that cost only $10 million to make. Critics were not so quick to notice that the movie employed a little-known director, distributor and production company and spent less time on marketing in order to hire more experienced actors than usually work in Christian films. Part of the $10 million went towards securing good special effects (executed by Double Edge Digital) and other visual perks.
Although the movie is set in Ecuador, it was filmed on location in Colon, Panama (the area of the Waodani remains virtually inaccessible). Although initial speculation was that most of the actors portraying Waodani would be actual Waodani, the movie employed native Panamanians, whom were extensively coached in dialogue, culture and mannerisms by Waodani consultants. The end card of the movie promises that half the profits from the film will be given to charities that protect the interests of the Waodani and other native peoples.
Controversy
The secular point of view
Typical movie reviewers have criticized the film for portraying the stereotypical "jungle savage" who seeks to kill anything he does not understand and who is so incompetent at survival that he cheats extinction only when the white men arrive and teach him the benefits of civilization.The religious point of view
Some Christians have expressed resentment at the movie for capitalizing on the memory of five men who are nearly regarded as saints. They have also criticized the film for making Christians spend more money than necessary on repeat viewings of the film, which is a for-profit venture.Additionally, lead actor Chad Allen, who portrays aviator missionary Nate Saint in the movie (and his son Steve Saint as an adult), is an open homosexual. This fact has caused some Christian groups (such as Doug Phillips' Vision Forum) that were initially planning to promote the film to question their decision. The real Steve Saint, who was heavily involved in the production of the film, has stated in interviews that he himself had reservations but that God indicated to him that Allen was the proper choice.
Some Christians (such as VCY America's Vic Eliason) have criticized the film for not explicitly portraying the Gospel message (i.e. salvation through Jesus Christ). While the movie portrays the story of God sending his son to Earth to save mankind and references Christ's sacrificial death on the cross, it does so in a very simplified, allegorical manner. Since the Gospel is not expressed in the film in the way many evangelical Christians had expected, some called it "watered-down." However, the Gospel presented in the movie is the same as it was presented to the Waodani; in concepts and symbols that are present in everyday Waodani language (with the name of "God" being replaced with the Waodoni term "Waengongi", the creator god who no longer communicated with the people).
Moral?
Regardless of which viewpoint one takes, the film's objective is to portray the ultimate value of forgiveness. At one point early in the film, Mincayani questions his previous actions (of killing the "foreigners") by saying "Where does it end?" to one of the women in his tribe.
Box office
Opening with a stronger-than-expected first weekend (January 20-22), Spear took 8th place (behind four other new and expanding movies) with $4.3 million USD. In spite of some poor reviews by major critics, End of the Spear became one of the few independently released Christian movies to draw over $1,000,000 in its first three weekends of release. By the time the film left the box office, it had made an estimated $11.748 million.
Critical response
Unlike The New World, a re-telling of the Pocahantas story released on the same day, Spear received many negative reviews. However, it also drew positive feedback from the Christian community and some secular reviewers.
Rotten Tomato Meter: 48% (ie: "rotten"); 17 positive, 22 negative reviews (avg. rating: 5.5/10)
The film won a Crystal Heart Award as well as the Grand Prize for Best Dramatic Feature at the 2005 Heartland Film Festival.
References
External links
- Official site
- Official movie trailer
- "For some evangelicals, film of forgiveness does unforgivable" (Philadelphia Inquirer, February 12, 2006)
- Gay actor's roles in movie stir controversy (The News-Sentinel, February 1, 2006)
"End of the Spear"