"Silence," a film by Martin Scorsese

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Richard Blake, S.J.,听Robert Maryks, 补苍诲听Hitomi Omata Rappo

Date: March 24, 2017

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Co-sponsored with the听Center for Ignatian Spirituality, the听Institute for the Liberal Arts, and the听Church in the 21st Century Center.

Abstract

Film Screening

Martin Scorsese鈥檚 epic movie "Silence" follows two seventeenth-century Jesuit missionaries as they travel from Portugal to Japan in search of their missing mentor, who is believed to have rejected Christ under torture. Based on Sh奴saku End艒鈥檚 1966 award-winning novel, Scorsese鈥檚 film delves deeply into the nature of culture, faith, and mercy.听

Panel Discussion

Following a short break (with refreshments), a panel of international scholars will discuss the film and its central themes. The panel will include听Richard Blake, S.J., a scholar of Jesuit Spirituality and Catholicism in cinema, Robert Maryks, a scholar of Jesuits in film, and Hitomi Omata Rappo, a scholar of Jesuit missionaries in Japan, who will be joined by others for a lively discussion.

Speaker Bios

Father Richard Blake, S.J.

Father Richard Blake, S.J.听teaches American film history and criticism. During and after his years as executive editor of听America听magazine, a national weekly journal of opinion, he served as regular film reviewer. His听academic听research has focused on religious themes and imagery in popular American films and on the influence of New York City on Hollywood production.听While at md传媒国产剧 College, he edited听the scholarly quarterly,听Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits听for twelve years. His recent publications include听Afterimage: The Indelible Catholic Imagination in the Works of Six American FilmMakers,听Woody Allen: Profane and Sacred,听Screening America: Reflections of Five Classic Films, 补苍诲听Street Smart: The New York of Lumet, Allen, Scorsese and Lee. You can read his film reviews in听America听on their听.听

Robert Maryks

Robert Maryks听is associate professor of history, and associate director of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at听md传媒国产剧 College. He received his Ph.D. in history from Fordham University, an STP from the Pontificia Facolt脿 Teologica in theology, and an M.A. from the University of Warsaw in classics. Maryks's major area of research and teaching is the history of the Society of Jesus. He has published on various aspects of the history of the Jesuits, including听听(Ashgate, 2008),听听(Brill, 2009),听听(Brill, 2011),听听(Brill, 2013; co-edited with James Bernauer),听听(Brill, 2014), 补苍诲听听(co-edited with Jonathan Wright). He also teaches a course on the representation of Jesuits in film.

Hitomi Omata Rappo

Hitomi Omata Rappo听is a visiting researcher at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, under a postdoctoral fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation. She received doctorate degrees in history from 脡cole Pratique des Hautes 脡tudes in Paris, as well as from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). She also holds a M.A. in Asian studies and B.A. in art history from the University of Tokyo. In her doctoral dissertation, she analyzed how the images of Japanese 鈥渕artyrs,鈥 recorded first in missionaries鈥 reports, were reproduced in the hagiographic literature in Europe, and diffused as a popular theme of the Jesuit school drama in Italy, Germany, Spain, France, and Switzerland. Currently, she is working on a book called听From the distant Indies to the scenes of colleges: the reflections of the Japanese Martyrs in Europe (16th-18th century), which will be published by Cerf (Paris) and Aschendorff (M眉nster).

Event Photos

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(L to R) Robert Maryks, Richard Blake, S.J., and Erik Owens have a discussion following the movie, Silence.

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Hitomi Omata Rappo gives a brief slideshow presentation following the screening of the movie, Silence.

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Photos by MTS photography

Event Recap

On March 24, 2017, the Boisi Center hosted a screening and panel discussion of听Silence, a film by Martin Scorsese. The panel, moderated by Boisi Center interim director Erik Owens, featured Hitomi Omata Rappo, a visiting researcher at md传媒国产剧 College鈥檚 Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies; Robert A. Maryks, associate professor of history at md传媒国产剧 College and associate director of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies; and Richard Blake, S.J., professor of film studies at md传媒国产剧 College.

Silence, based on the novel of the same name by Japanese author Shusaku Endo, tells the story of seventeenth-century Portuguese Jesuits who faced persecution as missionaries in Japan. The film follows priests Sebasti茫o Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Francisco Garupe (Adam Driver) as they search for Crist贸v茫o Ferreira (Liam Neeson), their mentor who is presumed to have renounced his faith after being tortured. As Rodrigues and Garupe travel through Japan, they must remain invisible to avoid captured for spreading an illicit and seditious religion.

Throughout the film, the contrast between Western and Eastern culture and religion becomes apparent as many Japanese Christians face brutal torture and death. Rodrigues鈥檚 missionary work is halted when his Japanese guide Kichijiro (Y艒suke Kubozuka), a Christian who apostatized to avoid death, betrays him to Inquisitor Inoue Masashige (Issey Ogata). Since Rodrigues himself was impervious to torture, the governor tortures Rodrigues鈥檚 fellow Christians, saying their anguish will only end if the priest renounces Christ. To save his fellow Christians, Rodrigues apostatizes and spends the rest of his life in Japan living as a Buddhist. The practice of his faith is cloaked in ambiguity, but in the final scene, Rodrigues is cremated according to Buddhist tradition while holding a small contraband crucifix.

After the screening, Rappo opened the panel with insight into the historical context of the film, Endo鈥檚 relationship to the story, and an interpretation of Scorsese鈥檚 message. Rappo also addressed questions of historical accuracy in the film. For example, she explained that the scenes depicting torture in the film should not be taken as exact representations of reality: the scenes exaggerated certain techniques, while excluding others that were commonly used. Rappo explained how Endo saw himself in his characters, particularly in the character of Kichijiro. The erstwhile Christian represents a paradox of faith and human weakness and is a literary Judas-figure. According to Rappo,听Silence听highlights a struggle for understanding across cultures, questions conquest as a means of missionizing, and elaborates upon internal dilemmas of faith and morality. Rappo concluded that Scorsese portrays the act of martyrdom as a selfish act, which mirrors Endo鈥檚 own interpretation.

Next, Maryks compared Scorsese鈥檚 film to the Japanese adaptation of听Silence, directed by Masahiro Shinoda in 1971. The main differences are not in plot, but in what was highlighted. For example, Scorsese focuses on the Jesuit mission of service to others when Rodrigues confronts his fantasy that his suffering is Christ-like and realizes that his inaction will not save the innocent Japanese Christians who are being killed. The Japanese adaptation highlights more explicitly the cultural discord between the missionaries and the Japanese. Maryks noted the contrast between Scorsese鈥檚 music-less soundtrack to Shinoda鈥檚 Iberian guitar and 鈥渆xotic鈥 vocal sounds. To this end, Maryks found Scorsese鈥檚 film a helpful depiction of historical events that scratches the surface of some of the more complicated theological considerations of mission and martyrdom.

Finally, Blake explored听Silence听from a film critic鈥檚 perspective. An expert on Catholic directors who has written several books on Scorsese, Blake noted that the film was a box office failure and criticized Scorsese for using the same plot patterns on many of his films. Blake attributed much of the film鈥檚 problems to a seemingly self-indulgent edit and a more methodical pace reminiscent of an earlier generation of cinema. Drawing attention to the repeated scenes of apostatizing and brutal violence, he described many of the scenes as 鈥渢orture porn鈥 that did not serve a clear purpose in developing the themes or plot.

Blake鈥檚 perspective was a helpful segue into the question and answer portion of the panel, in which many attendees shared comments and raised questions based on their initial reactions to the film. Questions included the effectiveness of translating a deeply introspective book to film, the accuracy of theological elements, the exotification of Japanese characters, and the meaning of the priesthood.

Read More

On the Book

Matata, JP Mukengeshayi. "Endo Shusaku藚s Novels and Religious Pluralism. A reply to Prof. Emi Mase-Hasegawa." Inter-Religion, 43. 2003.听

On the Jesuit Missionaries

Yu, Doris. "Silence": The True Story of the Jesuits in Japan.听

On Scorsese and the Film

Ucerler, M. Antoni J., "Martin Scorsese Brings 鈥楽ilence鈥 To The Big Screen: A Story of Faith And Betrayal In 17th-century Japan."听

鈥淎ctors on Actors - Amy Adams and Andrew Garfield - Full Conversation.鈥 Variety. 听听听

鈥淭he Making of Silence.鈥 The Jesuit Post.听

鈥淛esuit James Martin says new Scorsese Movie is 鈥楲ike a Prayer鈥.鈥 Crux. 2016-12-07.听

Elie, Paul. The Passion of Martin Scorsese. New York Times Magazine. 2016-11-27.听

Reviews

Dana Stevens, Slate, 2016-12-22.听

Baruma, Ian. Japan: Beautiful, Savage, Mute.听New York Review of Books, 2017-02-09.听

From the Panelists

Rappo, Hitomi Omata, review of听Silence,听

Rappo, Hitomi Omata,听From the distant Indies to the scenes of colleges: the reflections of the Japanese Martyrs in Europe (16th - 18th century) / Des Indes lointaines aux sc猫nes des coll猫ges : les reflets des martyrs de la mission asiatique en Europe (XVI岬 - XVIII岬 si猫cle), M眉nster: Aschendorf/Paris: Cerf, 2017 (forthcoming book)

Rappo, Hitomi Omata, "The Adventures of "Martyrdom" between Asia and Europe, or the Vagaries of Translation / Les aventures de 芦 martyre 禄 entre l鈥橝sie et l鈥橢urope ou les al茅as de la traduction", IN: The M茅langes de l鈥櫭塩ole fran莽aise de Rome - Italie et M茅diterran茅e modernes et contemporaines (MEFRIM), n. 129, 2017

Rappo, Hitomi Omata, "The Quest for relics thorough the Mission in Japan (XVI岬検 -XVIII岬検 century) / La qu锚te des reliques dans la mission du Japon (XVI岬 -XVIII岬 si猫cle)", IN: Archives des Sciences Sociales des Religions (ASSR), n. 177, april 2017

Blake, Richard A.听Afterimage: The Indelible Catholic Imagination of Six American Filmmakers. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2000.

Blake, Richard A.听Street Smart: The New York of Lumet, Allen, Scorsese, and Lee.听Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2005.

Maryks, Robert A. 鈥溾橳hat鈥檚 what Missionary Work is all about, Loving People鈥: A Conversation with James Martin, S.J.鈥 Journal of Jesuit Studies, Vol 4. 291-95.听

In the News

The Huffington Post's review of the film, "Silence" can be found听.