Silence (2016 Film)
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''Silence'' is a 2016
epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...
historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...
film directed by
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
from a screenplay by
Jay Cocks John C. "Jay" Cocks Jr. (born January 12, 1944) is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is a graduate of Kenyon College.1966 novel of the same name by Shūsaku Endō, marking the third filmed adaptation of the novel. The film stars
Andrew Garfield Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. After his breakout role in '' Boy A'' (2007), he came to international attention with the supporting role of Eduardo Saverin in the drama ''The Social Network'' ...
,
Adam Driver Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor, recognized for his collaborations with auteur filmmakers. Driver made his film debut in ''J. Edgar'' (2011) and played supporting roles in ''Lincoln (film), Lincoln'' (2012), '' ...
,
Tadanobu Asano better known by his stage name is a Japanese actor, director, and musician, who has had an extensive career working in both Japanese and international cinema. He has been nominated for five Japan Academy Film Prizes, twice for Best Actor and ...
,
Ciarán Hinds Ciarán Hinds ( ; born 9 February 1953) is a British Northern Irish actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Love ...
and
Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...
. The plot follows two 17th-century
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
priests who travel from
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
to Edo period Japan via
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
to locate their missing mentor and spread Catholic Christianity. It is the third of Scorsese's films about religious figures struggling with challenges of faith, following '' The Last Temptation of Christ'' (1988) and ''
Kundun ''Kundun'' is a 1997 American epic biographical film written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the life and writings of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet. Te ...
'' (1997). The pre-production phase of the filmmaking for ''Silence'' went through a cycle of over two decades of setbacks and reassessments. After filming of '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' concluded in January 2013, Scorsese committed to following it up with ''Silence''. On April 19, 2013, Scorsese indicated that he would begin production on ''Silence'' in 2014.
Irwin Winkler Irwin Winkler (born May 25, 1931) is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of over 58 motion pictures, dating back to 1967's '' Double Trouble'', starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, '' They Shoo ...
was then announced as a producer, as were
Randall Emmett Randall Ives Emmett (born March 25, 1971) is an American film producer and television personality. He is the chairman and co-founder of production company Emmett/Furla Oasis Films. Emmett is best known for pioneering the geezer teaser, a genre ...
and George Furla, who would provide financing through their company Emmett/Furla Films. Soon thereafter, planning was made for the film to be shot in Taiwan. A long-time passion project for Scorsese, which he had developed for over 25 years, ''Silence'' premiered in Rome on November 29, 2016, and was released in the United States on December 23, 2016. Though it received critical acclaim, being selected as one of the top ten films of the year by both the
National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered the first major harbinger of the film awards season that ...
and the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
and being nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Cinematography The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work on one particular motion picture. History In its first film season, 1927–28, this award (like others such as the acting awards) w ...
, it was a
box office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...
, grossing $24 million against its $50 million budget.


Plot

Veteran Portuguese Jesuit priest Cristóvão Ferreira is forced to watch as Japanese converts to Christianity are tortured to death for refusing to renounce their faith. A few years later, at St. Paul's College in
Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
, an Italian Jesuit priest,
Alessandro Valignano Alessandro Valignano, S.J., sometimes Valignani (Chinese: 范禮安 ''Fàn Lǐ’ān''; February 1539 – January 20, 1606), was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary born in Chieti, part of the Kingdom of Naples, who helped supervise the i ...
, receives news that Ferreira renounced his faith in Japan. In disbelief, Ferreira's Portuguese pupils, the young Jesuit priests Sebastião Rodrigues and Francisco Garupe, set off to find him, guided by Kichijirō, a fisherman stranded in Macau. Kichijirō is seeking redemption, as he renounced his faith to save himself while the rest of his family was put to death by burning them alive. Arriving in the 1639 Japanese village of Tomogi, the priests find local Christian populations driven underground in fear of "the Inquisitor." The villagers hide the two priests, but they are horrified when officials of the shogunate arrive to ferret out hidden Christians and force them to step on a fumi-e, a carved image of Christ. The villagers who refuse are left to drown on the shore and their bodies cremated so they cannot be properly buried. Garupe leaves for
Hirado Island (also previously named Hiranoshima and Firando Island) is the 4th largest island in Nagasaki Prefecture, located in the Sea of Japan. The entire island and the part of the nearby Kyushu mainland is administered as part of Hirado city. The islan ...
and Rodrigues to Gotō Island, the last place Ferreira was seen. Rodrigues finds the village destroyed and in 1643 Kichijirō betrays him to the authorities, who imprison him in
Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...
. Rodrigues is forced by the Inquisitor, the
daimyo were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to ...
Inoue Masashige, to watch as converts are tortured. He is shocked to see an emaciated Garupe among them; as the Inquistor tries to compel Garupe to renounce his faith, the priest refuses and instead swims out to try to save a dying woman. The guards hold him underwater and he drowns. Rodrigues' faith in God is shaken. When Kichijirō is imprisoned alongside him, Rodrigues reluctantly hears his
confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of people – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that ...
. Rodrigues is taken to meet Ferreira, who has assimilated into Japanese society. Ferreira apostatized while being
tortured Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions restrict torture to ac ...
to save his fellow Christians, and now believes that Christianity has no place in Japan. That night, Rodrigues is brought to watch five Christians being tortured. He learns that they have already apostatized but will continue to suffer until he also abandons his faith. Rodrigues struggles over whether it is self-centered to refuse to recant when doing so will end others' suffering. He hears what he thinks is the voice of
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
, giving him permission to step on the fumi-e, and he does. Rodrigues takes a Japanese name and wife and is tasked by the Inquisitor to assist Ferreira in his efforts to prevent Dutch traders from smuggling Christian paraphernalia into
Dejima or Deshima, in the 17th century also called , was an artificial island off Nagasaki, Japan, that served as a trading post for the Portuguese (1570–1639) and subsequently the Dutch (1641–1858). For 220 years, it was the central con ...
. He hears the voice of Jesus, who assures him that rather than remaining silent as Rodrigues had thought, Jesus also suffered alongside those who were killed. Despite having apostatized, Rodrigues is forced by shogunate officials to prove that he is not practicing his former religion in secret. Kichijirō is arrested after being caught with a Christian amulet and Rodrigues never sees him again. The former priest lives out the remainder of his life in Japan. After his death in 1685, he is given a traditional Japanese funeral. His wife is allowed to place an offering in his hand to ward off evil spirits – she places the tiny crudely made
crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...
that was given to him when he first came to Tomogi, indicating that in his heart, Rodrigues remained a Christian all his life.


Cast

*
Andrew Garfield Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. After his breakout role in '' Boy A'' (2007), he came to international attention with the supporting role of Eduardo Saverin in the drama ''The Social Network'' ...
as Sebastião Rodrigues (based on Giuseppe Chiara), who later in the film goes by the name Okada San'emon. In interviews, Garfield has spoken of his extensive year-long preparation for the role with James Martin, a Jesuit priest working in New York. Garfield detailed that the preparation with Martin included extensive research and immersion in the Jesuit lifestyle and frame of mind, which the producers felt was essential to the accuracy of the film. Garfield reported losing forty pounds to play the role, following the rules of abstention which were outlined to him by Martin. *
Adam Driver Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor, recognized for his collaborations with auteur filmmakers. Driver made his film debut in ''J. Edgar'' (2011) and played supporting roles in ''Lincoln (film), Lincoln'' (2012), '' ...
as Francisco Garupe. Both Driver and Garfield went through a seven-day Jesuit silent prayer retreat arranged with the help of the Jesuit scholar Martin to prepare them for their roles in the film. Garfield, in an interview with
Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program ''The Colbert Report'' from 2005 to ...
, stated that both actors felt emaciated in preparing for their roles, and that Driver lost close to fifty pounds in preparation to play his role in the film. *
Tadanobu Asano better known by his stage name is a Japanese actor, director, and musician, who has had an extensive career working in both Japanese and international cinema. He has been nominated for five Japan Academy Film Prizes, twice for Best Actor and ...
as The Interpreter *
Ciarán Hinds Ciarán Hinds ( ; born 9 February 1953) is a British Northern Irish actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Hinds is known for a range of screen and stage roles. He has starred in feature films including '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Love ...
as the Jesuit
Alessandro Valignano Alessandro Valignano, S.J., sometimes Valignani (Chinese: 范禮安 ''Fàn Lǐ’ān''; February 1539 – January 20, 1606), was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary born in Chieti, part of the Kingdom of Naples, who helped supervise the i ...
and the voice of
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
*
Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...
as the Jesuit Cristóvão Ferreira, who later in the film goes by the name Sawano Chūan. *
Shinya Tsukamoto is a Japanese filmmaker and actor. With a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad, Tsukamoto is best known for his body horror/Japanese cyberpunk, cyberpunk film ''Tetsuo: The Iron Man'' (1989), which is considered the defining ...
as Mokichi. Tsukamoto felt that the relation of his character to Rodrigues was of central importance to the thematic content of the film. He adopted a lifestyle of fasting and abstention from social interaction throughout the production of the film. He reported that he and Garfield tried to stay in character on the sets even between takes. * Issey Ogata as Inoue Masashige (based on the 17th-century Grand Councilor (''ōmetsuke'')) * Yōsuke Kubozuka as Kichijirō * Nana Komatsu as Mónica (Haru) * Ryo Kase as João (Chokichi) *
Katsuo Nakamura is a Japanese actor. Nakamura is a former Kabuki actor as well as his older brother Kinnosuke Nakamura. His first film appearance was in the 1955 film ''Furisode Kenpo''. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 5th Japan Academy Prize ...
as Monk *Yoshi Oida as Ichizo *Béla Baptiste as Dieter Albrecht (based on
Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German natural history, naturalist, physician, exploration, explorer, and writer known for his tour of Russia, Iran, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He ...
, a chronicler who traveled with the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
)


Production


Development

In an interview with ''America Magazine'' in December 2016, Scorsese stated that he first read Shūsaku Endō's novel ''Silence'' in 1989, when he was invited by
Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker who List of works by Akira Kurosawa, directed 30 feature films in a career spanning six decades. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the History of film, history of cinema ...
to Japan to play the part of
Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
in Kurosawa's film ''
Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5–20 minutes, althou ...
'' (1990). Scorsese obtained the film rights soon afterwards. Scorsese considered ''Silence'' a "passion project": it had been in development since 1990, two years after the release of his film '' The Last Temptation of Christ'', which also carried strongly religious themes. When asked why he retained interest in the project for over 26 years, Scorsese said:
As you get older, ideas go and come. Questions, answers, loss of the answer again and more questions, and this is what really interests me. Yes, the cinema and the people in my life and my family are most important, but ultimately as you get older, there's got to be more ... ''Silence'' is just something that I'm drawn to in that way. It's been an obsession, it has to be done ... it's a strong, wonderful true story, a thriller in a way, but it deals with those questions.
In 2009, with the production beginning to coalesce, Scorsese and a production crew went to Nagasaki, Japan, visiting the original sites that served as the setting for Endō's novel. Additional location scouting was conducted in Canada. However, ''Silence'' entered a state of
development hell Development hell, also known as development purgatory or development limbo, is media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in a stage of early development for a long time because of legal, technical, or artistic ...
soon afterwards, and Scorsese decided to work on '' Shutter Island'' and '' Hugo'' instead. In December 2011, Scorsese stated that ''Silence'' would be his next film. By March, although he originally put it on the back burner and consequently dropped out, Scorsese signed back on to ''The Wolf of Wall Street'' and opted to direct it ahead of ''Silence''. However, at the time, Scorsese's publicist stated that ''Silence'' would come first. In May, the film picked up another producer in the recently revived Cecchi Gori Pictures, which placed the project first on its slate of upcoming films. Cecchi Gori was involved in pre-production for ''Silence'', but years of unrelated legal disputes had interrupted its association to the film. After filming of ''The Wolf of Wall Street'' concluded in January 2013, Scorsese committed to following it up with ''Silence''. On April 19, 2013, it was announced that Scorsese would begin production on ''Silence'' in 2014, after a reputed 23-year wait.
Irwin Winkler Irwin Winkler (born May 25, 1931) is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of over 58 motion pictures, dating back to 1967's '' Double Trouble'', starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, '' They Shoo ...
was announced as a producer the same day, as were Randall Emmett and George Furla, who would finance the production through their company Emmett/Furla Films. Paul Breuls' Corsan Films was also reportedly funding the project. Additionally, it was announced that the film would be shot in Taiwan. Producer Irwin Winkler stated the choice to film in Taiwan was due to lower costs. " he moviewas very, very expensive, and it was budgeted, because it takes place in 1670 in Japan. We got lucky and found out about
Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...
, and in and around Taipei and Taiwan, we found great, great locations. The prices were very cheap, and we were able to make it for a price." Winkler disclosed that the tight budget forced many of the cast and crew, including himself, to work for minimum pay: "And all the actors, Liam Neeson, Adam Driver, everybody worked for scale. Marty worked for scale, I worked for under scale. We gave back money." James Martin, a Jesuit priest and published Catholic scholar, as well as Catholic scholar Liam Brockey, worked closely with the filmmakers to ensure an accurate portrayal of the Jesuits.


Legal claims

Scorsese's complex filmmaking commitments to multiple film projects resulted in an early legal challenge before filming of ''Silence'' could be initiated. In August 2012, Cecchi Gori Pictures sued Scorsese over an alleged breach of contract agreements related to ''Silence''. According to the company, in 1990 Scorsese signed a written agreement to direct ''Silence''. Scorsese was supposed to shoot the film following 1997's ''
Kundun ''Kundun'' is a 1997 American epic biographical film written by Melissa Mathison and directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the life and writings of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet. Te ...
'', and Cecchi Gori Pictures had apparently invested more than $750,000 for this purpose. However, Scorsese chose to make ''
Bringing Out the Dead ''Bringing Out the Dead'' is a 1999 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Paul Schrader, based on the 1998 novel by Joe Connelly. It stars Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, Ving Rhames, and Tom Sizemore. ...
'', ''
Gangs of New York ''Gangs of New York'' is a 2002 American-Italian epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1928 book '' The Gangs of New York''. The fil ...
'' and '' The Aviator'' first. In 2004, Scorsese purportedly signed deals to postpone the film further, in order to direct ''
The Departed ''The Departed'' is a 2006 crime film, crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both an English-language remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film ''Infernal Affairs'' and also loosely based on the real-lif ...
'' and ''Shutter Island''. In 2011, Scorsese ostensibly agreed to one more deal, delaying ''Silence'' to direct ''Hugo''. Cecchi Gori Pictures asserted that Scorsese agreed to pay "substantial compensation and other valuable benefits" in order to first direct ''The Departed'', ''Shutter Island'' and ''Hugo''. The company said the fees were "$1 million to $1.5 million per film plus up to 20 percent of Scorsese's backend compensation". The complaint was founded on the company's allegation that Scorsese failed to pay the fees agreed upon for ''Hugo'', and that he breached the contract's terms by filming ''The Wolf of Wall Street'' ahead of ''Silence''. Scorsese, via his representatives, responded: "The claims asserted are completely contradicted by, inconsistent with, and contrary to the express terms of an agreement entered into by the parties last year." He also denounced the lawsuit as a "media stunt" and a "meritless action". The lawsuit was settled on January 17, 2014. The terms of the settlement are sealed.


Writing

This film marks the second adaptation of Shūsaku Endō's novel, which was previously adapted by
Masahiro Shinoda was a Japanese film director, whose career spanned over four decades and covered a wide range of genres and styles. He was one of the central figures of the Japanese New Wave during the 1960s and 1970s. He directed films for Shochiku Studio fro ...
into the 1971 film of the same name. Scorsese penned the initial screenplay in 1991 with co-writer and long-time collaborator Jay Cocks. However, they were unsatisfied with the script and conducted rewrites for an additional 15 years. Later, Endō's official translator, Van C. Gessel, who has translated eight of his novels, assisted as a consultant on the film. The screenplay as finally filmed was assessed in critical review as an accurate depiction of the novel as written by Endō.


Casting

Beginning in 2009 and into 2010,
Daniel Day-Lewis Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English actor. Often described as one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Daniel Day-Lewis, numerous a ...
,
Benicio del Toro Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (; born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican actor. List of awards and nominations received by Benicio del Toro, His accolades include an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy ...
and
Gael García Bernal Gael García Bernal (; born 30 November 1978) is a Mexican actor and filmmaker. He is known for his performances in the films ''Amores perros'' (2000), ''Y tu mamá también'' (2001), ''Bad Education (2004 film), Bad Education'' (2004), ''The Mot ...
were in negotiations to star. In 2011, the film officially lost the involvement of Day-Lewis, del Toro, and García Bernal. In May 2013,
Andrew Garfield Andrew Russell Garfield (born 20 August 1983) is an English and American actor. After his breakout role in '' Boy A'' (2007), he came to international attention with the supporting role of Eduardo Saverin in the drama ''The Social Network'' ...
and
Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. He is best known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in '' Letters from Iwo Jima'' and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in ''The Last Samurai'', for which he was nominated for the Academy Awa ...
joined the cast with Watanabe as the priests' translator. However, due to scheduling conflicts, Watanabe was replaced by
Tadanobu Asano better known by his stage name is a Japanese actor, director, and musician, who has had an extensive career working in both Japanese and international cinema. He has been nominated for five Japan Academy Film Prizes, twice for Best Actor and ...
in January 2015. In January 2014,
Adam Driver Adam Douglas Driver (born November 19, 1983) is an American actor, recognized for his collaborations with auteur filmmakers. Driver made his film debut in ''J. Edgar'' (2011) and played supporting roles in ''Lincoln (film), Lincoln'' (2012), '' ...
and
Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...
joined the film, with Driver as Francisco Garupe, the second Jesuit priest, and Neeson as the priests' mentor, Cristóvão Ferreira. Having completed the ''
Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola The ''Spiritual Exercises'' (), composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish Catholic priest, theologian, and founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesui ...
'' for playing a
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
in the movie, Andrew Garfield said: "What was really easy was falling in love with this person, was falling in love with
Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
. That was the most surprising thing."


Filming

In January 2012, Scorsese discussed the possibility of utilizing 3D, however reconsidered. By February 2014, Scorsese had begun scouting locations in Taiwan, with filming set for the summer, and eventually pushed back to early 2015. Principal photography took place in Taiwan from January 30 to May 15, 2015, using studios in
Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...
and
Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...
and locations in
Hualien County Hualien () is a County (Taiwan), county on the east coast of Taiwan. It is Taiwan's largest county by area, yet due to its mountainous terrain, has one of the lowest populations in the country. The county seat and largest city is Hualien City. Hu ...
. On January 28, 2015, the production experienced an accident at Taiwan's CMPC Studios. According to a spokesperson for the film, a tragic incident occurred in one of the backlots of the production when a ceiling collapsed, which resulted in the death of one contracted employee and the injury of two others. Scorsese and cinematographer
Rodrigo Prieto Rodrigo Prieto Stambaugh, American Society of Cinematographers, ASC, AMC (born November 23, 1965), is a Mexican cinematographer and film director. He has collaborated with Martin Scorsese and Alejandro González Iñárritu, among other promine ...
drew inspiration from painters from the Baroque period when determining the color palettes of the film, using blue and cyan tones at the beginning and later a golden-yellow hue, which in Prieto's opinion, gave the film a sense of progression in color. While Prieto shot the landscapes and the actors using film stock, he resorted to digital when it came to the night scenes. Prieto found some difficulties when shooting the film. With the weather constantly changing, he would have inconsistencies in terms of lighting that he solved by filming some sequences at night time that would be lit for either dusk or sunset. To simulate moonlight for many of the night scenes, Prieto used a rig of blue-green lights called the "UFO" and hung them on a crane.


Music

The music for the film was composed by Kim Allen Kluge, the former music director at Quad City Symphony Orchestra, and Kathryn Kluge. Much of the soundtrack includes ambient nocturnal and ocean sounds repeated over several of the tracks. A 51-minute soundtrack of 25 tracks was released on February 17, 2017, by the recording studio for Rhino Warner Classics under ASIN release number B01N7S3IB9. An extended track of 12 minutes titled "Meditation" is included as the leading track on the soundtrack release.


Release

Scorsese brokered several distribution deals when he attended the 2013
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
. In July 2014,
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
acquired distribution rights for the United States and Canada and optimistically eyed a late 2015 release. Discussing the film in March 2016, Winkler revealed the film was in the editing process and that the film would be released "at the end of the year", confirming a 2016 release date. In August 2016, Scorsese stated the film would be completed in October, and the 2016 release of the film depended on Paramount. Paramount Pictures released the first trailer for the film on November 22, 2016. The world premiere of the film was held at the
Pontifical Oriental Institute The Pontifical Oriental Institute, also known as the Orientale, is a Catholic institution of higher education located in Rome and focusing on Eastern Christianity. The plan of creating a school of higher learning for Eastern Christianity had bee ...
in Rome on November 29, followed by a special screening the next day in
Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...
. It received a limited release (in four theaters) on December 23, 2016, in order to qualify for 2017 Oscar nominations, which expanded to 1580 theaters on January 20.


Home media

The film was released on
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
and
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on March 28, 2017, with a slightly earlier release date of March 14, 2017, set for digital streaming of the film.


Reception


Box office

''Silence'' grossed $7.1 million in the United States and Canada and $16.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $24 million, against a production budget of $40–50 million. In North America, the film had its expansion alongside the openings of ''
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'', '' The Bye Bye Man'' and '' Sleepless'', as well as the wide expansions of '' Live by Night'' and '' Patriots Day.'' The film was expected to gross $4–6 million from 747 theaters in its four-day MLK opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $1.9 million (a four-day total of $2.3 million), finishing 15th at the box office. ''
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'' attributed the film's low opening to its 161-minute runtime and lack of major award nominations to create buzz. Similarly, ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' noted that, unlike some of the other films released, ''Silence'' was playing in fewer cinemas and had been released at a time when the marketplace had "too many adult dramas" and "a lack of interest in the subject matter".


Critical response

On
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website
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, the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 286 reviews, and an average rating of 7.60/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "''Silence'' ends Martin Scorsese's decades-long creative quest with a thoughtful, emotionally resonant look at spirituality and human nature that stands among the director's finest works." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a weighted average rating, the film has a score of 79 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Several critics have referred to the film as being among the finest films of Scorsese's career. Matt Zoller Seitz of '' RogerEbert.com'' gave the film four out of four stars, stating: "''Silence'' is a monumental work, and a punishing one. It puts you through hell with no promise of enlightenment, only a set of questions and propositions, sensations and experiences ... This is not the sort of film you 'like' or 'don't like.' It's a film that you experience and then live with."
Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...
also awarded the film four out of four stars, saying: "When Ferreira finally appears and we learn the truth about where he's been all this time, it further serves Scorsese's central theme about the conflict between adhering to one's sacred vows and traditional beliefs and doing the right thing, the prudent thing, the moral thing, on a very pragmatic level." Several reviewers such as
Justin Chang Justin Choigee Chang is an American film critic and columnist currently working at ''The New Yorker''. He previously worked for '' Variety'' and for ''Los Angeles Times''. His 2023 reviews at the ''Times'' won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Critici ...
and
Mark Kermode Mark Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter, author and podcaster. He is the co-presenter (with Ellen E. Jones) of the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Screenshot'', and co-presenter ...
emphasized Scorsese's collaboration with his production crew and with his actors as contributing to the film's quality. Writing for the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', Justin Chang called the film an "anguished masterwork" for Scorsese, stating: "Working with such sterling past collaborators as editor
Thelma Schoonmaker Thelma Schoonmaker (; born January 3, 1940) is an American film editor, best known for her collaboration over five decades with director Martin Scorsese. She has received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and ...
, production designer
Dante Ferretti Dante Ferretti (; born 26 February 1943) is an Italian production designer, art director, and costume designer. Biography Throughout his career, Ferretti has worked with many acclaimed directors, both American and Italian, including Pier Paol ...
and cinematographer
Rodrigo Prieto Rodrigo Prieto Stambaugh, American Society of Cinematographers, ASC, AMC (born November 23, 1965), is a Mexican cinematographer and film director. He has collaborated with Martin Scorsese and Alejandro González Iñárritu, among other promine ...
, Scorsese has done more than resurrect a vision of feudal Japan... ''Silence'' feels less like a feat of adaptation than an act of artistic submission". Mark Kermode writing for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' indicated exemplary performances by the range of Japanese supporting actors in the cast, stating: "The real stars however, are the Japanese cast, from Yōsuke Kubozuka's enigmatic wretch, Kichijirō ... to Yoshi Oida's devout elder Ichizo, to whose village these priests bring both salvation and suffering. As a smiling, silver-tongued interpreter,
Tadanobu Asano better known by his stage name is a Japanese actor, director, and musician, who has had an extensive career working in both Japanese and international cinema. He has been nominated for five Japan Academy Film Prizes, twice for Best Actor and ...
is a superb foil to the inquisitor, Inoue, played with fly-swatting menace by a wheedling Issey Ogata". Apart from the narrative qualities of the film, the filmmaking was also praised for the depth and thoroughness of its thematic content.
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film i ...
of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'', who assigned it stars out of four, wrote that ''Silence'' "offers frustratingly few answers but all the right questions" and argued that it is among the director's "most spiritually moving films to date". In '' Slant'', Jesse Cataldo argued: "Tapping into the vast pool of vagueness and uncertainty that exists beneath the veneer of a rigid, righteous belief, Scorsese crafts a versatile, multifaceted work that encourages serious reflection and contemplation". Alissa Wilkinson of '' Vox'' wrote that ''Silence'' "is beautiful, unsettling and one of the finest religious movies ever made". John Ehrett of ''
The Federalist ''The Federalist Papers'' is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The col ...
'' praised the film highly, saying: "''Silence'' is a must-see masterpiece about the paradoxes of faith." Ehrett further added: "Complex yet reverent, ''Silence'' explores the meanings and dilemmas of Christian faith, and decisively sets a new benchmark for religious films." Some reviewers cited the legacy aspects of the film for Scorsese, and compared Scorsese to iconic director
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film and theatre director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential film directors of all time, his films have been described as "profoun ...
.
Ty Burr Ty Burr (born August 17, 1957) is an American film critic, columnist, and author who reviews films for ''The Washington Post'' and writes the film and popular culture newsletter "Ty Burr's Watchlist". Burr worked as a film critic at ''The Boston ...
of ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' said: "The movie's being promoted as the third in the director's unofficial trilogy of faith, after ''The Last Temptation of Christ'' (1988) and ''Kundun'' (1997), and it feels like a self-conscious masterpiece, a summing-up from a filmmaker who, at 74, may be thinking of his legacy." Joshua Rothkopf of ''
Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...
'' gave the film five stars out of five, saying: "Scorsese has hit the rare heights of filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman and Carl Theodor Dreyer, artists who find in religion a battleground that leaves even the strongest in tatters, compromised and broken." Emma Green of ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'' gave the film high praise, stating: "This is what makes Scorsese's film so radical and so unlike many movies about religion: It's actually art."
Robbie Collin Robbie Collin is a British film critic. Collin studied aesthetics and the philosophy of film at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He edited the university's student newspaper, '' The Saint''. Collin has been the chief film critic at ''The ...
of ''
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'' gave the film five stars out of five, stating: "Scorsese's brutal spiritual epic will scald, and succor, your soul." Collin further added: "It's the kind of work a great filmmaker can only pull off with a lifetime's accrued expertise behind him". Brian Truitt of ''
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'' gave the film three-and-a-half stars, stating: "With the religious historical drama ''Silence'', Martin Scorsese proves he's as masterful a filmmaker with men of God as he is with gangsters." Truitt also argued that the film "marks one of the deeper and most thoughtful projects in Scorsese's career". The film also garnered criticism. Writing for ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', Peter Debruge found major flaws with the film, writing: "Though undeniably gorgeous, it is punishingly long, frequently boring, and woefully unengaging at some of its most critical moments. It is too subdued for Scorsese-philes, too violent for the most devout, and too abstruse for the great many moviegoers who such an expensive undertaking hopes to attract." John Patterson of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' stated in his review: "I fear that ''Silence'' expired in the womb during that long gestation period. It is beautiful to look at, but feels inert, humourless and overly devout (to say nothing of over-long; Masahiro Shinoda's 1971 adaptation got Shūsako Endō's 1966 novel on to film using 30 fewer minutes than Scorsese). Perhaps that leap toward the devout is needed to savour it fully–and I found I couldn't make it." In 2023,
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
director Thierry Frémaux revealed in a podcast that he mentioned to Scorsese in 2017 his belief that, had ''Silence'' premiered at Cannes first before going to theaters, it would have had a better reception.


Top ten lists

''Silence'' was listed on numerous American critics' top ten lists for 2016. *1st –
Justin Chang Justin Choigee Chang is an American film critic and columnist currently working at ''The New Yorker''. He previously worked for '' Variety'' and for ''Los Angeles Times''. His 2023 reviews at the ''Times'' won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Critici ...
, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' *1st – Rene Rodriguez, ''
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'' *2nd – Joshua Rothkopf, ''
Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition became ...
'' *2nd –
Glenn Kenny Glenn Kenny (born August 8, 1959) is an American film critic and journalist. He writes for ''The New York Times'' and '' RogerEbert.com''. Biography Kenny attended William Paterson University, where he majored in English literature.RogerEbert.com'' *3rd – Mark Olsen, ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' *4th – Ben Kenigsberg, '' RogerEbert.com'' *4th – William Bibbiani, ''
CraveOnline Mandatory (formerly CraveOnline Media) is a lifestyle website based in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial D ...
'' *5th –
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born June 27, 1943) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film i ...
, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' *5th – K. Austin Collins, '' The Ringer'' *5th – Stephanie Zacharek, ''
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'' *5th – Brian Tallerico, '' RogerEbert.com'' *5th –
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, '' L.A. Weekly'' *6th – Katie Rife, ''
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'' *7th – Keith Phipps, ''
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'' *8th – Jeffrey M. Anderson, ''
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'' *8th – Alissa Wilkinson, '' Vox'' *8th – Witney Seibold, ''
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'' *9th –
Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...
, ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' *9th – Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' *10th – Peter Sobczynski, '' RogerEbert.com'' *Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Walter Addiego, ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' *Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Stephen Whitty, ''
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''


Industry reception

''Silence'' received an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography at the
89th Academy Awards The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best 2016 in film, films of 2016, and took place on February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Californ ...
. In addition to other competitive awards for which the film received accolades, the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
selected ''Silence'' as one of its ten Movies of the Year.


Analysis

Scorsese has stated in interviews that among the most difficult aspects of the film to represent were the spiritual themes presented in Endō's original book used for the film. The first version of the script he attempted to write with his co-writer Jay Cocks managed to get only midway through the material before being set aside as insufficiently sensitive to the spiritual aspects of the book. It took Scorsese many years to envision a way to approach an accurate and informed filming of the scenes, involving spiritual transitions among the actors in the film. Caesar A. Montevecchio of the
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
published a theological assessment of the spiritual themes in the film concentrating on the act of priestly renunciation depicted towards the end, stating: "This climactic scene of Rodrigues trampling the fumi-e makes clear that ''Silence'' is as much about the object of Christian faith as it is the experience of that faith. As ambient and live sound are washed out entirely, Rodrigues hears the voice of Christ telling him to trample, that it was to be trampled upon that Christ came into the world. The object of faith becomes a Christ who is a hero of pity, who takes up the weakness and suffering of humankind as his cross, rather than a hero of triumphant resolve. The Jesus of ''Silence'' is one of utter ''
kenosis In Christian theology, ''kenosis'' () is the "self-emptying" of Jesus. The word () is used in the Epistle to the Philippians: " made himself nothing" ( NIV), or " eemptied himself" ( NRSV) (Philippians 2:7), using the verb form (), meaning "t ...
'' (self-emptying), and one who in the mercy of that ''kenosis'' radically sympathizes with the weakness, and frailty, of human beings, even ones like Judas and Kichijirō." David Sterritt in the book ''A Companion to Martin Scorsese'' discussed aspects of the theological themes in the film, stating: "According to an analysis of the novel by the Japanese-American theologian Fumitaka Masuoka, it pivots on the idea that the "silence" of God is in fact the "message" of God, being not the silence of "nihil", or 'nothingness', but rather 'the "accompaniment" for the forsaken and the suffering', and the concomitant silence of Christians quietly hoping for salvation. Implicit here is what Matsuoka terms 'an element of uncertainty', a possibility that the "nihil" of emptiness, meaninglessness, and hopelessness will eventually prevail. Uncertainty about the fate of the soul (or the self, for secularists) lies at the heart of human experience, injecting many a mind with the existential fear, trembling, and sickness unto death of which
Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...
vividly wrote."


See also

*
Martyrs of Japan The were Christians, Christian missionaries and followers who were persecuted and executed, mostly during the Tokugawa shogunate period in the 17th century. The Japanese saw the rituals of the Christians causing people to pray, close their eyes w ...
* ''Silence'' (1971 film), a Japanese film adaptation of Shūsaku Endō's novel, directed by
Masahiro Shinoda was a Japanese film director, whose career spanned over four decades and covered a wide range of genres and styles. He was one of the central figures of the Japanese New Wave during the 1960s and 1970s. He directed films for Shochiku Studio fro ...
. *'' Black Robe'', a 1991 Canadian film based on the novel by Brian Moore which deals with similar issues in 17th century Quebec. * ''The Mission'' (1986 film), a British period film about Jesuit missionaries in 18th-century South America. *'' The Sea and Poison'', another novel by Endo dealing with faith in Japan.


References


External links

* * * * *
Official screenplay
{{Portal bar, Film, United States, Taiwan, Mexico, Japan, Religion, Christianity, History, 2010s 2016 films 2016 drama films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films 2010s historical drama films 2010s Japanese-language films American historical drama films Catholic Church in Japan Films about Catholic priests Films about Christianity Films based on Japanese novels Films based on works by Shūsaku Endō Films directed by Martin Scorsese Films produced by Martin Scorsese Films produced by Randall Emmett Films set in 17th-century Edo period Films set in feudal Japan Films set in 1639 Films set in 1643 Films set in the 1660s Films set in 1685 Films set in Macau Films shot in Taiwan Films with screenplays by Jay Cocks Films with screenplays by Martin Scorsese Japan in non-Japanese culture Jesuit history in Asia Kadokawa films MoviePass Films films Paramount Pictures films Persecution of Christians Society of Jesus StudioCanal films English-language historical drama films