Movie Silence (2016) review

Movie Silence (2016) review

Introduction

The turn of events in the movie Silence immensely borrow from the ordeals in the Bible especially in the New Testament. The movie silences examines the struggles, persecutions, denials, and betrayals by the Christians in the early Japanese society when Christianity was fanned in the region (Kroenert, 3). In great depth, the movie reflects the aspects of denial as evident in the four gospel books in the Bible. Though the denial in the Bible only revolved around Christ, such act in the movie is multifaceted and manifests in different levels. It exists through the denouncing religion, denying association with people from the Christian faith, betrayal of the missionaries and becoming blasphemous. The acts of denial as highlighted in the four gospel books are evident in the several ways as examined in the subsequent paragraphs.

Summary of the Film

In the movie, Scorsese portrays the characters in a manner that reflects the happenings in the four gospel books in the New Testament. Kichijiro, immensely epitomizes Judas and his betrayal of Father Rodriguez confirms the assertions that he is an epitome for betrayal, backsliding, and denial in the movie. Though the movie depicts the reception and subsequent persecution of Christians in Japan, it hugely rides on the Biblical teachings as depicted in the gospel books to highlight the sufferings of the Christians in various parts of the world during the missionary expeditions (Kroenert, 3). In these expeditions, the missionaries, as the three catholic priests epitomize, faced mixed receptions and hostility in most parts in Asia. The strong footing of the indigenous religions and blatant intolerance and persecution by the individuals in the authority compelled several new converts to end up living in denial and apostatize their faith. When Fathers Rodrigues and Garupe embarked on the shores of China, they met Kichijiro in a Chinese boat. Being drunk and initially associated to Christianity, Kichijiro offered to help them to reach the Christians in Goto amd Tomogi where the Japanese Christians resided (Montevecchio, 26). However, the interesting part was that Kichijiro denied any association with the Christians and refused any association with the religion. However, his denial did not last long as during the journey, the priests later heard him muttering a prayer while drunk. Kichijiro’s proficiency in various aspects of the religion also casted doubt whether he was not a Christian as he previously asserted (Montevecchio, 26). To clearly highlight the denial, the movie takes the viewers to a flashback and shows that Kichijiro was indeed a newly converted Christian under the tutelage of Father Ferreira but got compelled to deny his faith after seeing his family subjected to torture and getting killed for refusing to apostatize.

Historical and Political Context of the Movie

The movie derives most of its assertions from the Japanese history. During such period as highlighted in the film, there was a string opposition of Christianity across Asia (Oshiro, 101). The Japanese people and the authority blatantly persecuted Christianity in order to safeguard the existing religious practices. In this regard, brutal force was meted on the people who openly practiced religion that was considered non-convergent an ineffective in the Japanese culture and the society (Oshiro, 101). In order to curb the proliferation of the religious sites and the flooding of the missionary, the Japanese authority adopted the use of brute force among the converts of the new religion with the belief that such merciless in dealing with such individuals would be a deterrence to other people. As seen in the movie through Fathers Rodrigues and Ferreira, the use of the brutal force prompted the people to deny their religion and effectively ensure that they adopted the existing Japanese religion at the expense of their own. Such acts are not only atrocious but also defined the historical and the cultural context of the Japanese people in matters of religion.

Cultural and Sociological aspects of the Film

When the film was released, it received mixed reaction from the audience. The staunch conservative Christians in the society doubted the motive behind while others examined the role of God in protecting the missionaries. There were several contentious issues revolving around the film. The issues directly clashed with the well set societal norms and values in the Christian doctrine (Oshiro, 107). For instance, Father Ferreira does the unthinkable, apostatizes, and denies the religion that he initially professed. As the movie portrays, in 1639, Father Ferreira embarked on a mission to win multiple converts in Japan. However, persecutions and torture superseded his resilience and commitment to the faith. At last he gave in to the pressure and the torture from the persecutors and led in the fore front to deny the Christian faith. Father Ferreira’s apostatizing and his subsequent denial of the Christian religion prompted the likes of Father Garope and Father Rodrigues to embark on an expedition meant to rescue him. Therefore, based on the reception of the individual viewers, such representation of facts are not only far-fetched but depicts God as ineffective and less important in playing the required roles in protecting the people. Generally, the reception of the movie was not only mixed but also elicited debates on the portrayal of God as ineffective.

Aesthetic Aspect of the Film

The film draws its aesthetic values from the natural background and cinematography, lighting, and framing plays an important role in highlighting the authenticity of the film. For instance, in cinematography, the film relies on the use of close frames as the feelings and aguish of the actors is clearly brought to the audience (Maryks, 693). The portrayal of the feelings of the characters in the story effectively, especially after denial by Kichijiro. In that regard, the audience are given a glimpse of the happenings in the film as they get immersed in the development of every aspect of the film. The explicit show of horror meted on the converts are aimed to ensure that the audience effectively relate to the characters in the film for an emotional appeal (Maryks, 694). The lighting is immensely natural as the video was shot in open areas around the shows in Asia.

Scene

The film is short in different scenes but the context is reminiscent to that of the medieval times when Christianity was spreading around the globe and people depicted it as relatively evil. The aspect could be justified by the dressing code of the actors and the rudimentary approaches and weapons that were in use during that particular period (Maryks, 694). The huts and the confinement points out to the period before civilization and when religion was setting foot on various points of the world.

Conclusion

The movie portrays the atrocities that typified the persecution of the Christians around the globe and the denials associated with it. In the movie, Scorsese uses the medieval settings and the natural lighting to give it the traditional aspect befitting a 15^th century movie. Though the events in the movie are seemingly far-fetched based on the receptions, it highlights the ordeals that the Christians in Japan went through as they were coerced into accepting Buddhism and denying the existence of Christianity.