Silence
They hear
many rumors about the teacher: Liam Neeson, who has turned Japanese and
denounced Jesus, but want to find out for them.
In the search for the teacher, the two priests
discover that ever since Christianity was outlawed, the faithful are not just
put to death in gory inhuman ways, but that there is a secret band of faithful
Christians called Kakure Kirishtan living hidden, wretched lives.
They live in hiding and in constant fear of the
Inquisitor and his band of cruel enforcers. When caught, they are not only
asked to denounce Christ but are tortured in ways that are so cruel; you want
to look away from the screen.
Those familiar with the life of Christ, and stories from the Bible know how God tests the faith of the ones who are his nearest and dearest. Father Rodriguez dreams of a picture of Christ and begins to look at his own life as parallel to Christ's life, as his faith is tested at every step.
Those familiar with the life of Christ, and stories from the Bible know how God tests the faith of the ones who are his nearest and dearest. Father Rodriguez dreams of a picture of Christ and begins to look at his own life as parallel to Christ's life, as his faith is tested at every step.
Andrew
Garfield cuts a sympathetic figure and scores with the audience in the scene
where he gives away his possessions - all the religious symbols: crucifixes,
rosary beads et al - to the villagers.
The Inquisitor finds new ways of testing the
padre's faith. The faithful are beheaded, drowned and burned, and there is not
a single scene where you think it is inelegant.
That's the beauty of Martin Scorsese's masterful
touch. The torture is done with as much dexterity and beauty as the Japanese
Tea Ceremony. Sound impossible, but you will not be able to look away from the
screen at all.
You will watch as the sea fills in crevices and
brings in the tide to overwhelm and take away the lives of three faithful who
refuse to denounce their God. 'It took four days for Mokichi to die, but the hymn
that he sung before he died lingered on...'
You hear Mokichi sing unfamiliar words, but you
watch in despair as the sea slowly consumes him. The movie consumes you just as
slowly, but you don't realise it because you are watching from behind bushes
along with the Padres how the Inquisitor offers silver coins to the villagers
who will inform on Christians hiding in the village.
As the Bible story goes, there is a Judas, and
there is betrayal. And the story plays out but not as how you would expect.
Liam Neeson shows up much later in the movie and
you are tested even further: You believe that the Son rose three days after
crucifixion, but how do you teach this to the Japanese who only know of the one
Sun (the one in the sky) and see it and witness it rising every day.
Liam Neeson is not in a role where he needs to
fight, but you see resignation and you begin to look for that one sign of faith
on his furrow forehead just like Padre Rodriguez...
Did thousands perish in reality, as written in the book, valiantly
embracing death for promised 'paraiso' (paradise)? Could Buddhism - a religion
based peace and love - really advocate violence to root out another religion?
Can a country really be called a swamp where nothing can take root? Human
suffering has been documented in movies like Good Earth, and in war and
disaster movies. But here we see an inhuman side of people, systematically
break down another's belief system in order to impose their own and you won't
emerge untouched.
The beauty of any movie that moves you enough to
make you think along with the characters, feel for and with the characters and
despair and mourn with the characters cannot simply be chalked off as a
161-minute experience.
The despair remains with you much longer than the
movie, and even though the director offers you a salve in the end, you begin to
look at everything Japanese in a new cruel light. You will not want to eat
sushi after the movie, that's for sure. But you will go down on your knees
thankful and grateful that you are living in less uncivilized times.
