Religious Obsession in Japan

 “Silence,” film by Martin Scorsese, 2016

This is an odd film about the attempt to turn Japanese farmers and fishermen into Christians by missionaries from Europe, mostly Portugal or Italy, in the 1600s.  It is somewhat relentless, dull and overlong, with beautiful landscapes and some tricky discussions about religion – Christian and Buddhist alike.  It is based on a novel by Shusaku Endo set near Nagasaki.

You too can be crucified

The key characters are 3 Portuguese Catholics – one who has disappeared in Japan, rumored to be an ‘apostate’ priest who denounced Christ.  The other two are his young disciples, who cannot believe this rumor and set out to find him.  They start out in China and are smuggled onto some Japanese islands off Japan’s coast.  There they meet terrified but loyal Christian fishermen, who greet their coming with hosannas.

Thus begins a long – too long – series of gruesome attempts to punish the villagers and find the two young Jesuit priests.  It is reported that 300,000 Christians have already been killed. If government soldiers find them, they are allowed to ‘trample’ on a picture of Christ or spit on a cross and they can leave and live.  If they don’t, they are wrapped in reeds and set on fire; tied to crosses in the surf to drown; hung upside down in a hole with a cut letting blood drip out of their necks; or have their head chopped off.  Yeah, the Japanese feudalists are brutal – but no more brutal than the Crusades, the Catholic / Protestant wars or the Inquisition.

The most interesting character is the Japanese Inquisitor, who is both deadly and kind, intelligent and trying to get the priests and peasants to ‘apostatize.’  He realizes that killing everyone is not the best solution.  His grin is memorable as he discusses religion with one of the young hard-headed Jesuits, who won’t denounce ‘god,’ telling him Japan is a ‘swamp’ in which Christianity will not grow. 

Ultimately that Portuguese missionary meets his mysterious missing priest, who now works for the Japanese, teaching some science topics and reviewing 'suspicious' religious materials.  He has denounced Christianity, though underneath still believes in a way.  The missing priest (Liam Neeson) ultimately convinces the stupid hot-head that renouncing Christianity - which will also save a lot of villagers lives - is the most merciful thing to do, and he finally complies.  He also begins to work for the Japanese.  He secretly still believes of course.  As the original missionary puts it, the Japanese Christians think ‘god’ means the sun and cannot read the Bible, so their grasp of Christianity is limited.

One Japanese peasant renounces his faith several times, saving his life, while his whole family will not and die.  He also turns the priests in, again under pain of death or for money.  His sad story of betrayal, guilt and attempts at forgiveness runs through the whole film.

Scorsese’s obsession with Catholicism led him to make 3 films about it, this being the last, but his focus is solely on moral issues. Scorsese certainly thinks this film promotes religion in a way, especially Christianity.  But to an atheist or agnostic viewer, it only shows how crazed or cruel it is.

Behind this simple story is feudalism and colonialism – subjects only an astute viewer will think about, as Scorsese did not.  The Japanese shoguns clearly did not want an alien ideology among their peasants and fishermen, which might lead the peasants into opposition to the feudal landlords and royal/religious Buddhist hierarchy.  It actually did, in the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637.  Nor did they want to be penetrated by a European colonial power in this way.  The Dutch only wanted to trade, similar to the French in North America.  They did not want to ‘convert,’ and so the Dutch are allowed to visit Japan.  The Japanese understand trade as a maritime nation located on an island.  But this has also isolated them from cultural matters and people.

As an actual leftist in the U.S. and certain other countries, you do not proclaim your politics in many jobs (unless you perhaps have union protection) because you can be easily fired, or in places like Saudi Arabia, killed.  You don’t even announce it to neighbors unless you know them well. In a way, some communists and socialists are ‘in the closet.’  Leftist organizations also have ‘non-public’ work, in which hidden members work in broader ‘front groups’ or unions to recruit secretly.  This is the effect of the continual Hooverism and McCarthyism that still reigns in the U.S., at least since 1917.  So viewing this dull film brings up odd thoughts for some Marxists.

Prior blog reviews on this subject, use blog search box, upper left, to investigate our 14 year archive:  Use terms like ‘religion,’ ‘colonialism,’ or ‘feudalism’ or “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” “Seaspiracy.”

The Kulture Kommissar

July 13, 2021