Beyond the Gates of Splendor - ACE Train Movie Review

In 1956, a group of five American missionaries were sent to Ecuador, where they introduced themselves to the Aucas, a tribe of indigenous people who lived near the Eastern Amazon River. The Auca tribe was among the most violent societies on Earth - six out of ten deaths among the tribe were homicide, and they were even more bloodthirsty with outsiders than they were with their own. The Americans attempted to convince the Aucas of their good intentions, but they were soon speared to death by members of the tribe. However, after word reached the United States that the missionaries had been murdered, the wife of one of the fallen men traveled to Ecuador to continue her husband's work. Within two years, a profound change came over the Aucas - their murder rate fell by 90 percent, and in time, the newly peaceful tribe renamed themselves the Waodani.

This is a documentary about incredible events that were also made into a movie called End of the Spear. After watching the feature film, I was excited about seeing this documentary since I figured it would show a lot of the interaction between the indigenous tribe and the missionaries. In fact, it featured a little bit of the "clashing cultures," but not as much as I would have liked. The first 30 minutes focused mostly on the missionaries and their families which isn't what I was interested in. The best parts were the footage of the "rescue party" discovering the site where the missionaries were killed, the grandson of one of the slain missionaries talking about how close he has come to the Waodani who killed his grandfather and the tribesman visiting the US for the first time and being awestruck at the basic amenities we take for granted. Overall, this documentary wasn't as good as I had hoped, but I'm not disappointed I spent the time to watch it.

Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Would I watch it again: No
Starring: Steve Saint

I typically watch movies on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while riding the ACE Train from Tracy to Santa Clara. The opinions expressed are those of me, myself and I.