Silence (2016)
The film begins with a prologue where the veteran Portuguese Jesuit priest Cristóvão Ferreira witnesses the torture of Japanese converts he has been trying to bring to the Christian faith. The priest appears to be helpless in the presence of Japanese authorities conducting the torture and cannot assist his converts in any way. A few years later, at St. Paul’s College, Macau, an Italian Jesuit priest, Alessandro Valignano, receives news that Ferreira renounced his faith in Japan after being tortured. In disbelief, Ferreira’s Portuguese pupils, the young Jesuit priests Sebastião Rodrigues and Francisco Garupe, set off to find him. Kichijirō, an alcoholic fisherman who fled Japan to save himself, agrees to guide them. Some time later, the Jesuits learn that Kichijirō’s entire family were killed and he renounced his faith.
Arriving in Japan at the village of Tomogi, the priests are dismayed to find local Christian populations driven underground, living in fear of a figure whom the villagers refer to as the “Inquisitor.” Both priests are then horrified when Japanese officials searching for suspected Christians strap some of the villagers to wooden crosses by the ocean shore, where the tide eventually drowns them. The bodies are then cremated on a funeral pyre which the priests understand is done to prevent a Christian burial. Garupe leaves for Hirado Island, believing that their presence forces the shogunate to terrorize the village. Rodrigues goes to Gotō Island, the last place Ferreira lived, and finds it destroyed. Wandering around Gotō, he finds himself close to despair. He eventually reunites with Kichijirō, who betrays him into the hands of the samurai. An older samurai, who acts throughout as interpreter, tells Rodrigues that other captured Christians will suffer unless he renounces his faith.
Date of download: 2015-11-11T17:22:34+00:00
Cast:  Andrew GarfieldRodrigues  Adam DriverGarupe  Tadanobu AsanoInterpreter  Ciarán HindsFather Valignano  Liam NeesonFerreira  Shinya TsukamotoMokichi  Issei OgataOld Samurai / Inoue |
The film begins with a prologue where the veteran Portuguese Jesuit priest Cristóvão Ferreira witnesses the torture of Japanese converts he has been trying to bring to the Christian faith. The priest appears to be helpless in the presence of Japanese authorities conducting the torture and cannot assist his converts in any way. A few years later, at St. Paul’s College, Macau, an Italian Jesuit priest, Alessandro Valignano, receives news that Ferreira renounced his faith in Japan after being tortured. In disbelief, Ferreira’s Portuguese pupils, the young Jesuit priests Sebastião Rodrigues and Francisco Garupe, set off to find him. Kichijirō, an alcoholic fisherman who fled Japan to save himself, agrees to guide them. Some time later, the Jesuits learn that Kichijirō’s entire family were killed and he renounced his faith.
Arriving in Japan at the village of Tomogi, the priests are dismayed to find local Christian populations driven underground, living in fear of a figure whom the villagers refer to as the “Inquisitor.” Both priests are then horrified when Japanese officials searching for suspected Christians strap some of the villagers to wooden crosses by the ocean shore, where the tide eventually drowns them. The bodies are then cremated on a funeral pyre which the priests understand is done to prevent a Christian burial. Garupe leaves for Hirado Island, believing that their presence forces the shogunate to terrorize the village. Rodrigues goes to Gotō Island, the last place Ferreira lived, and finds it destroyed. Wandering around Gotō, he finds himself close to despair. He eventually reunites with Kichijirō, who betrays him into the hands of the samurai. An older samurai, who acts throughout as interpreter, tells Rodrigues that other captured Christians will suffer unless he renounces his faith.
