All language subtitles for Silence_2016_BDRip_Eng

Praise to you, Iord Jesus Christ.

1633, pax Christi,

praised be God.

AIthough for us,

there is IittIe peace in this Iand now.

I never knew Japan when it was
a country of Iight,

but I have never known it
to be as dark as it is now.

All our progress has ended.

A new persecution, new repression,

new suffering.

They use IadIes fiIIed with hoIes,
so the drops wouId come out sIowIy

and the pain wouId be proIonged.

Each smaII spIash of the water

was Iike a burning coaI.

The Governor of Nagasaki
took fourfriars

and one of our own society to Unzen.

There are hot springs there.

The Japanese caII them "heIIs,"
partIy, I think, in mockery

and partIy, I must teII you, in truth.

The officiaIs toId ourpadres

to abandon God
and the gospeI of His Iove.

But they not onIy refused to apostatize,

they asked to be tortured,

so they couId demonstrate
the strength of their faith

and the presence of God within them.

Some remained on the mountain
for 33 days.

The story of their courage

gives hope to those of us priests
who remain here in secret.

We wiII not abandon
our hidden Christians

-who Iive in fear.
-"...who liмe iт fear."

We onIy grow stronger in His Iove.

Ferreira is Iost to us.

This was his Iast Ietter.

Why Iost?

This Ietter came to us
wheт we were traмeIiтg аrom PortugaI.

It took years to reach us.

It was hiddeт, smuggIed, raтsomed.

FiтaIIy, put iтto my haтd
by a Dutch trader,

who had other тews as weII.

He's aIive?

That he apostatized,

that he denounced God in pubIic
and surrendered the аaith,

and is now Iiving as a Japanese.

That's not possibIe.

Father Ferreira risked his Iiаe
to spread our аaith aII over Japan.

We're here today because oа him.

Yes. He was...

He's the strongest oа us.

He wrote those words during
the most sweeping persecution of aII.

Now, things are even worse.

Thousands are dead
because of what we brought them.

Thousands more
have given up the faith.

You said this trader brought news,
but it's not proven, is it?

It couId be a sIander created
to аurther discredit our аaith.

Given the extent oа the persecution
in that country...

Yes. But, respectаuIIy,
there must be muItitudes there

-who need us, too.
-And the fact,

there has been no other word of him,

and the news brought by the Dutch...

Rumor, Father, onIy.

I must concIude it is true.

If it is true, Father,

what wouId it mean

for the Jesuits?

For the whoIe of CathoIic Europe?

It seems to me that our mission here
is more urgent than ever.

We must go find Father Ferreira.

I cannot aIIow that.

How... How can we
abandon our mission?

Your mission, Father Garupe,
was to find word of Ferreira.

You have found it.

Excuse me, Father,

but this Ietter
reIates the most terribIe history,

but it says nothing of Ferreira himseIf.

Whatever happened to him
is stiII unknown.

AII that we know of his fate,

is this one sIander.

Permit me, Father VaIignano, but...

I... I beIieve our mission stiII stands.

Do you know how many Christians
the authorities executed in Shimabara?

Thousands.

Tens of thousands,

most of them beheaded.

No, it's far too dangerous for you.

Yes, but, Father,

how do we negIect the man
that nurtured us in the faith?

He shaped the worId for us.

And even if the sIander shouId be true,

then Father Ferreira is damned.

Yes.

We have no choice, but to save his souI.

This is in your hearts, then?
Both of you?

-Yes.
-It is.

Iike our first fervor.

Then I must trust God has put it there.

He caIIs you to a great triaI.

The moment you set foot in that country,

you step into high danger.

You wiII be the Iast two priests to go.

An army of two.

May 25th, 1640.

Pax Christi...

God be praised.

Father VaIignano, as I begin these Iines,

I cannot be sure
that when they are done

they wiII ever reach you.

But I want to maintain
your confidence in our mission

and vindicate your faith in us.

CarefuI.

Today, there was wonderfuI news.

Your Mr. Chun
has found us a Chinese boat.

It wiII smuggIe us into Japan.

And he cIaims he's found
the onIy Japanese in Macau,

to be our most vaIued guide
in that country.

Come on, this way.

FinaIIy, we meet our first Japanese.

He's not much, you wiII see.

But after aImost two months,
he's the onIy one.

Hey.

Hey, wake up.

Come on, get up.

He was drifting on sea,
Portuguese bring him.

He's stuck here, wants to go home.

Is he... Are you reaIIy Japanese?

Answer them, you fooI.

These are padres.

Kichijiro!

You fooI, they wiII take you home!

Where is your home?

Nagasaki.

What's your work?

He wiII do what you say.

Fisherman.

You know our Ianguage?

IittIe.

Yes. IittIe.

You Iearned it from the Jesuit padres.

You must have, so you're Christian?

No!

No Christian.

Good guide for you. He's Christian, too.

I'm not Christian!

Christian die!

They...

They die in Nagasaki.

Iisten to me.

We have money.

If you can heIp us,
we can take you home.

We can take you home to Japan.

WouId you Iike to go home to Japan?

I want...

I want to go home.

Not for money.

Japan is the country of my famiIy!

I beg you.

Don't abandon me here, Father.

PIease!

Take me home.

He wiII be good guide.

Promise me.

-I'II cIean him up.
-They take me home!

Promise me.

Our guide...

He can't be Christian.

He says he's not,
but can you beIieve anything he says?

I don't even want to beIieve
he's Japanese.

And He said to them,
"Go ye into the whoIe worId

"and preach the gospeI
to every Iiving creature,

"even to one such as this."

So our Iord commanded,

and as I prepare to do His work,
I see His face before me.

He Iooks as He must have
when He commanded Peter,

"Feed my Iambs,

"feed my Iambs, feed my sheep."

It fascinates me.

I feeI such great Iove for it.

Garupe and I had
absoIuteIy no Iuggage to bring to Japan,

except our own hearts.

And during the caIm
and storm of the voyage,

I refIected upon the 20 years
which has passed

since the persecution has broken out.

The bIack soiI of Japan

is fiIIed with the waiIing
of so many Christians.

The red bIood of priests
has fIowed profuseIy.

The waIIs of the churches
have faIIen down.

Shaba.

We've trusted that man with our Iives.

Jesus trusted even worse.

Hurry.

Come.

Here, here!

Kichijiro, where are you going?

Kichijiro!

He's going to betray us.

Kichijiro!

Fact is fact.
What you wiII do, do quickIy.

Padre?

Hurry. We have no time.

No time! Come, come, come.

What is this pIace?

Tomogi pIace.

-Japan?
-PIease be quick!

So gentiIes cannot see you. So, come.

-GentiIes?
-Yes.

Come, come. QuickIy!

Quick!

Come!

I'm sorry, Padre.

Too dangerous.
There are more executions than ever.

If they know we're Christian,
we wiII be kiIIed.

The Iord hears you.

Yes.

He sent you to us.

PIease.

PIease. Enter, enter.

Thank you.

We have IittIe food, if you'd Iike.

You wiII be safe here untiI morning.

Sit, sit! PIease.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

How do you Iive Iike this?

I mean, how do you Iive as Christians

when the danger is so great?

You understand?

We pray in secret,

but we have our Jiisama.

-Jiisama?
-Jiisama.

Jiisama.

Who is the Jiisama?

You Iead them?

You Iead the viIIage?

-In prayer, in devotions?
-Padre, too.

The onIy sacrament
he can perform is baptism.

We worship with the Jiisama.

We hide the Christian images.

Amen.

But God stiII sees us.

-Yes?
-Yes.

Even though we do not have a priest

untiI now.

PIease eat!

PIease eat.

Thank you.

Amen.

Every Christian here
is part of our secret church.

This... This faith...

This faith you have is so strong.

You have such courage.

Is it onIy here that there is such faith
or in other viIIages, too?

We do not know about other viIIages.

We never go there.

You don't go?

Other viIIages are so dangerous.

You do not know who to trust.

Everyone fears the Inquisitor

Inoue-sama.

Inform on Christian,

and they give you 1 00 pieces of siIver.

200 for a Christian brother.

And for a priest, 300.

Three hundred?

You must go to the other viIIages.

You must Iet them know
that priests are here again.

That we are here in Japan, again,
it wiII be good.

There was a padre,

who was here caIIed Ferreira.

Father Ferreira.

Have you heard of him?

Iike us.

-No.
-No?

You do not eat?

It is you who feed us.

They do not dare take us
anywhere by the main road.

To hide Iike this
must be a terribIe burden.

I was overwheImed by the Iove
I feIt from these peopIe,

even though their faces couIdn't show it.

Iong years of secrecy
have made theirfaces into masks.

Why do they have to suffer so much?

Why did God make them
to bear such a burden?

This is the safest here.

This hut for making charcoaI.

When you hear this sound...

It wiII be us.

If you hear anything eIse...

Hide.

During the day, we keep the door
of our hut tightIy cIosed

and refrain from the sIightest noise
Iest anyone passing outside may hear it.

OnIy the dark makes it safe for us

to go down into the viIIage
and minister to the faithfuI.

Padre!

PIease!

FinaIIy, they had priests
to forgive their sins.

BIess me, Padre,

for I have sinned.

-Confession.
-I have sinned.

We heard their confessions aII night.

But then, Padre...

Even though we couId not
aIways be sure

what was being confessed.

And now, Christianity brought Iove.

The dignity for the first time

of being treated Iike
God's creatures, not animaIs.

And the promise that aII their suffering
wouId not end in nothingness,

but in saIvation.

We offer mass in the dead of night,

just as they did in the Catacombs.

QuietIy.

In nomine Patris,
et FiIii, et Spiritus Sancti.

Amen.

-Amen.
-Amen.

We now aIways God in paraíso?

Paraíso?

-Yes.
-Paradise?

Yes, paradise.

-Now?
-Yes.

No.

But God is there now.

And forever.

He prepares a pIace
for us aII, even now.

I'm sorry, Sebastião, for my impatience.

I'm ashamed of my frustration.

The chiId is safe
in the grace of God now

and that is what is important.

And you're a bad Jesuit.

Sick of being trapped in here aII day.

Eat.

We don't even know
if Father Ferreira is aIive or dead.

The viIIagers never even heard of him.

These peopIe are so frightened.

There's fear over their head, and Iice.

They have us, we comfort them.

How much Ionger can we do that?

We asked for this mission, Francisco.

We prayed for this in the exercises.

God heard us then,
and He hears us now.

WeII, then, may He guide us to Ferreira
so we can know the truth.

You think it's possibIe
that his strength gave out

and he groveIed to this Inquisitor Inoue,

went on his knees Iike a dog?

That's stiII just a rumor.

Even if this Inoue
is the deviI everyone cIaims,

Ferreira wouId stand up to him.

One of us must go to Nagasaki
and find him.

It's too dangerous.

For us, for the peopIe who sheIter us.

We send Kichijiro,
he brings back word we can act on.

Are you mad?

Where is he?

He's never here.

He's aIways drunk,
you know he can't be trusted.

What do we do?

We must do something
to find Father Ferreira.

Iet's go out.

Iet's risk it.

Just for a moment.

Iook.

That's God's sign.

Don't move.

Someone's here watching us.

Padre?

No, no, no. That's not the signaI.

Padre.

Do not be afraid. It's aII right.

We won't hurt you.

We Christian, Padre. Christian!

Christian.

We need you.

No, no!

Sebastião, hey! No! Sebastião!

Padre.

We have frightened you. We are sorry.

We want to ask you to come
to our viIIage. To Gotò.

PeopIe miss our faith there.

Our chiIdren need you.

We have no mass, no confession.

AII we can do is pray.

How did you know we were here?

Who toId you?
Was it one of the faithfuI?

It was a Christian
of our viIIage. Kichijiro.

Kichijiro?

Our... Our Kichijiro?

He said he came here.

With you.

Yes, but he's not a Christian.

Yes, he is.

It's true.
He spoke against God to the Inquisitor,

Inoue-sama.

But that was eight years ago.

His whoIe famiIy was put to death.

He spoke against God.

But he stiII beIieves.

No. No.

They need priests on Gotò.

-No, Padre.
-But, Mokichi, we wiII return here.

-No, no, Padre.
-We wiII return here.

I do not know the peopIe of Gotò.

So I do not know they can be trusted.

These are Christians. Iike us.

Kichijiro toId them to come here.

I'm not sure why.

Why does he do anything?

Kichijiro brought us here to Tomogi.

It'II onIy be for a few days.

But one wiII stay here? PIease.

Yes.

We're Iosing them.

That's right.

The fear I'd feIt
on the journey faded away.

Because the joy which greeted me
was aImost as great as my own.

Even the sight of Kichijiro
was somehow weIcome.

Come.

I thanked God for bringing me here.

On that day, the faithfuI
received fresh hope.

And I was renewed.

And they came to me.

Not onIy from Gotò,
for the Christians made their way

through the mountains
from other viIIages.

I feIt God HimseIf was so near.

Their Iives here are so hard.

They Iive Iike beasts
and die Iike beasts.

But Christ did not die
for the good and beautifuI.

That is easy enough.

The hard thing is to die
for the miserabIe and corrupt.

But here, I knew I was one of them

and I shared the hunger of their spirit.

Another prayer was answered on Gotò.

It was there I Iearned the first reaI news

of someone who might know
of Father Ferreira.

Padre Ferreira.

-Yes, do you know him?
-Yes.

-You know him?
-Yes.

-You've seen him?
-Yes.

When?

He made a pray for infant and the...

Infant.

-Baby! Baby!
-Infant.

-Yeah!
-Sorry, infant.

And sick, sick.

At Shimachi.

-Shimachi. Shimachi.
-Shimachi.

But that was before the troubIe.

Where is this?

-Near Nagasaki. Nagasaki.
-Nagasaki.

But so dangerous. Dangerous to go.

-No?
-I don't know. I don't know.

They are desperate
for tangibIe signs of faith.

So I provided what I couId.

I worry they vaIue
these poor signs of faith

more than faith itseIf.

But how couId we deny them?

And finaIIy, I had to part with my rosary.

Kichijiro!

In Gotò, I was compIeteIy overwheImed.

I baptized over 100 aduIts and chiIdren,
heard confessions without number.

But it was from Kichijiro
that I feIt the greatest need.

You did not take the rosary.

I did not deserve it.

Why?

'Cause you denied God?

Yes.

But onIy to Iive!

My whoIe famiIy...

The Inquisitor, Inoue,

wanted us to give up our faith.

Stamp on Jesus with our foot.

Just once, just pressed.

But they wouId not.

But I did.

But I couId not abandon them,

even if I had abandoned God.

So I watched them die.

Wherever I go,

I see the fire and smeII the fIesh.

When I saw you and Padre Garupe,
for the first time,

I started to beIieve

that God might take me back!

Because in my dreams

the fire was no Ionger so bright!

You want me to hear
your confession now?

BIess me, Padre,

for I have sinned.

Those six days at Gotò
and Kichijiro's renewaI of faith

made me feeI that my Iife was of vaIue

and that I couId reaIIy be of use
to peopIe in this country

at the ends of the Earth.

Men from the Inquisitor,
they are in the viIIage.

They took Ichizo.

No, we are not afraid to die, Padres,

and we wiII never surrender you.

No one shouId die.

No. But we wiII be in danger
whether you go or stay.

So stay. Stay.

We wiII never surrender you.

They'II keep coming back if we stay.

They couId destroy the entire viIIage
and kiII you aII, whiIe we hide.

No.

Yes, we have no choice, Mokichi.
It is the onIy thing to do.

This wiII draw the danger
away from you.

We can hide on Kichijiro's isIand.

My isIand?

No. There is no difference
between there and here.

They wiII come to Gotò.
They wiII search.

Same thing wiII happen.

You wiII stay.

Me, Mokichi,

and two more hostages.

I'm not an informer!

I confessed aII my sins.

Hey!

Padre?

Padre.

If we are forced to trampIe

on the Iord, on the fumie...

You must pray for courage, Mokichi.

But if we do not do what they want,

then it can be danger
for everyone in the viIIage.

They can be put in prison!

Taken away forever.

What shouId we do?

TrampIe.

It's aII right to trampIe.

What are you saying?

You can't!

Mokichi, you can't.

Amen.

I make this for the Jiisama.

It was aII we had.

UntiI you came.

Take this. PIease.

In Jesus' name.

Your faith gives me strength, Mokichi.

I wish I couId give as much to you.

My Iove for God is strong.

CouId that be the same as faith?

Yes.

Yes. I think it must be.

These peopIe are the most devoted
of God's creatures on Earth.

Father VaIignano, I confess,
I began to wonder.

God sends us triaIs to test us
and everything He does is good.

And I prayed to undergo triaIs
Iike his son.

But why must their triaI be so terribIe?

And why, when I Iook in my own heart,

do the answers I give them
seem so weak?

AII of them did
as they were commanded.

But it was not enough.

OId Ichizo wouId not do it.

Mokichi couId not.

But Kichijiro succeeded
where the rest faiIed.

I must beIieve he suffered
aIong with the others.

They were given sake,

as the Roman soIdier
offered vinegar to the dying Christ.

I prayed they remembered
our Iord's suffering

and took courage and comfort from it.

It took Mokichi four days to die.

At the end, he sang a hymn.

His voice was the onIy sound.

The peopIe of the viIIage

who were gathered on the beach
were aIways siIent.

The peopIe were watched cIoseIy

so the bodies couId not be
given a Christian buriaI.

Mokichi's body
was so heavy with water,

it turned the fIames to smoke
before it finaIIy caught fire.

Any bones that remained
were scattered in the ocean

so they couId not be venerated.

Father VaIignano, you wiII say
that their death is not meaningIess.

SureIy God heard their prayers
as they died.

But did He hear their screams?

How can I expIain His siIence
to these peopIe

who have endured so much?

I need aII my strength
to understand it myseIf.

This may be my Iast report
to you, Father.

Today we hear the guards
are in the mountains Iooking for us.

So we have decided
it wiII be safer to separate.

They were right.

If we Ieft, they might stiII be aIive.

Don't say that. That's not true.

And we cannot doubt,
that wiII be our death.

Are we giving up?
Is that what we are doing?

-Are we running away?
-No.

After peopIe have died for us.

They did not die for us.

Garupe, they did not die for us.

I feeI Iike a coward.

My Iove goes with you.

I pray to be as strong as you.

Father Garupe wiII make for Hirado
to continue the mission.

And I wiII return to Gotò.

Francisco, stay aIive.

Stay aIive.

Father, I ask forgiveness
for my weakness and my doubt.

And I ask you to remember
Father Garupe and me

in your masses and in your prayers.

Your obedient son.

I imagine your Son

naiIed to the cross.

My mouth tastes Iike vinegar.

Is that Gotò?

Father in heaven, praised be thy name.

I'm just a foreigner
who brought disaster.

And that's what they think of me now.

I dream of our St. Francis.

What happened to aII the gIorious
possibiIity he found here?

What have I done for Christ?

What am I doing for Christ?

What wiII I do for Christ?

I feeI so tempted.

I feeI so tempted to despair.

I'm afraid.

The weight of your siIence is terribIe.

I pray, but I'm Iost.

Or am I just praying to nothing?

Nothing.

Because you are not there.

I pray for your forgiveness.

If my report now comes
to an abrupt end,

do not think that we are dead.

For if Garupe and I die,

the Japanese church dies with us.

I thought I was being foIIowed.

Are you aII right, Padre?

Sorry.

Padre?

Why did you come back here, Padre?

This pIace is dangerous.

We must be carefuI.

There is a price
of 300 pieces of siIver for you.

Three hundred.

Judas got onIy 30.

There are Christians near the viIIages.

Not far.

We can hide there.
I wiII take care of you.

Take it. PIease.

You must be so hungry.

Mokichi and my famiIy stayed strong.

I am so weak.

Are you?

You can certainIy Iook after yourseIf.

Not to be seIfish.

I am Iike you.

I have nowhere eIse to go.

Where is the pIace for a weak man

in a worId Iike this?

You want to confess
for Mokichi and Ichizo?

"What you wiII do, do quickIy."

Your Son's words to Judas
at the Iast Supper.

Was he angry when he said them?

Or did they come from Iove?

Are you aII right, Padre?

-You seem so tired.
-I'm aII right.

The fish you gave me was so saIty.

I thirst.

-What?
-I thirst.

-Our Iord said that.
-Yes.

I get some water.

-I get water.
-Kichijiro!

Kichijiro.

Sorry, I dropped the water, Padre.

I thought something was wrong.

But, never mind.

There is a stream just nearby.

You can drink as much as you Iike.

Here.

Padre, forgive me.

Padre?

I pray for God's forgiveness.

WiII he forgive? Even me?

BIessed be God.

What is... What is your name?

Monica.

Iike the mother of Augustine.

My baptismaI name.

This man is Juan.

He wanted his name
to be Iike our priest Juan,

who died at Unzen.

There wiII be many more joining him.

You understand.

Why are you...
Why are you Iooking at me Iike that?

Why are you so caIm?

We are aII about to die!

Iike that!

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. Thank you.
Thank you for the food.

Padre...

Our father,

Padre Juan said if we die,

we wiII go to paraíso.

Paradise.

Yes, that's right.

Isn't it good to die?

Paraíso is so much better than here.

No one hungry.

Never sick. No taxes. No hard work.

Yes. Of course.

Padre Juan was right.

There is no hard work in paraíso.

There is no work at aII.

There is no taxes.

There is no suffering.

We aII wiII be united with God.

There wiII be no pain.

No, not you.

You stay.

You understood
what I was saying to them?

Your Japanese is good enough?

I saw your eyes.

And what did you think you saw there?

They're fooIs.

Those peasants.

Iord, spare them suffering
and keep them safe in Your hand.

They can taIk among themseIves
without end.

And decide nothing.

But you understand, don't you?

Just say what you mean.

That it aII depends on you
whether they are set free,

if you sayjust one singIe word.

Show them.

Deny your faith.

So what if I refuse?

You kiII me?

The bIood of martyrs
is the seed of the church.

Just Iike the priests you sIaughtered
in Òmura and Nagasaki.

We Iearned from our mistake.

KiIIing the priests
and kiIIing the peasants makes it worse.

If they can die for their God,
they think it onIy makes them stronger.

If you feeI you must punish someone,
punish me aIone.

You do not speak Iike a good priest!

If you were a reaI man,
a truIy good priest,

you shouId feeI pity for the Christian.

Isn't that so, Padre, isn't that so?

The price for your gIory
is their suffering.

Padre,

praise be to God, our Father.

Praise be to Him.

The Portuguese Ianguage was a gift
of your Father CabraI.

I have been asked to interpret
on your behaIf.

There was concern that we might miss
certain subtIeties in your testimony

if you were toId to speak
onIy in Japanese.

Testimony?

We want it to be fair.

And we do have
a better grasp of your Ianguage

than you do of ours.

Father CabraI never managed
much more than arigataya.

AII the time he Iived here,
he taught, but wouId not Iearn.

He despised our Ianguage,
our food, our customs.

I'm not Iike him. I'm not Iike CabraI.

-ReaIIy?
-Yes.

We have our own reIigion, Padre.

Pity you did not know this yet.

No. No, no.
We just think a different way.

True.

You beIieve our Buddhists are onIy men.

Just human beings.

Even a Buddha dies.

Iike aII men.

-He is not the Creator.
-You are ignorant.

Padre, onIy a Christian wouId see
Buddhists simpIy as men.

Our Buddha is a being
which men can become.

Something greater than himseIf
if he can overcome aII his iIIusions.

But you cIing to your iIIusions
and caII them faith.

No, you don't understand.

If any man foIIows
God's commandments,

then he can Iive a peacefuI
and joyous Iife.

I do. I do understand.

Padre, it is perfectIy simpIe.

Have you heard that word?

It means faII down, surrender,

give up the faith.

Apostatize, as you say.

Do it.

If you don't apostatize,
the prisoners wiII be hung over the pit.

UntiI you do, their Iives bIeeding away
drop by drop.

Some Iast for days, some do not.

They die.

They tortured
Fathers Porro and CassoIa over the pit.

Have you heard of them?

There was one caIIed Pedro, too.

And Ferreira of course.

Ferreira?

Did you know him?

I have... I have heard of him.

No doubt. He's weII-known
aII over Japan now.

The priest with the Japanese name
and the Japanese wife.

-I don't beIieve you.
-You can ask anyone.

PeopIe in Nagasaki
point him out and marveI.

He's heId in great esteem now,

which, I beIieve, is why
he came here in the first pIace.

I thought that martyrdom
wouId be my saIvation.

PIease, pIease, God,
do not Iet it be my shame.

The Iord is my refuge,
and my deIiverer.

My God is my heIper,
and in Him wiII I put my trust.

Of the BIood, aII price exceeding,
shed by our immortaI King,

destined for the worId's redemption.

Why are you foIIowing me?

Stop foIIowing me!

Thank you, Iord,
for the gentIe days here.

Jesus taught me to Iove everyone.

But I cannot feeI Iove to those
who torture our friends to death.

I am angry. I cannot Iove them.

Even the guards have been touched
by your hand, Iord.

I feeI guiIty.

I wonder if this unbroken peace...

From Him comes my saIvation.

...is proof that my death is not far away.

I shaII never be shaken.

I see the Iife of your son so cIearIy,
aImost Iike my own.

And his face, it takes aII fearfrom me.

It is the face I remember
from chiIdhood.

Speaking to me.

I'm sure of it.

Promising "I wiII not abandon you."

"I wiII not abandon you."

Put them on.

You shouId be honored.
It's what our priests wear.

Father Rodrigues from PortugaI, yes?

I am sorry, Padre, for my speaking.

My Ianguage is not so good.

But his Iordship,
the Governor of Chikugo,

is anxious about your comfort.

Comfort?

Perhaps discomfort.

Discomfort. Yes.

About why you are here,
and if you are not at ease,

pIease say so.

Your trip was Iong.

There were many dangers.

The power of your determination
touches us greatIy.

We know you have aIso suffered greatIy.

We do not wish to add to your suffering.

And the thought that
we might do so is painfuI for us, too.

Thank you.

Padre.

The doctrine you bring with you
may be true in Spain and PortugaI,

but we have studied it carefuIIy.

Thought about it over much time.

And find it is of no use
and of no vaIue in Japan.

We have concIuded that it is a danger.

But we beIieve
we have brought you the truth.

The truth is universaI.

It's common to aII countries at aII times.

That's why we caII it the truth.

If a doctrine weren't as true
here in Japan as it is in PortugaI,

then we couIdn't caII it the truth.

I see you do not
work with your hands, Father.

But everyone knows a tree
which fIourishes in one kind of earth

may decay and die in another.

It is the same
with the tree of Christianity.

The Ieaves decay here.

The buds die.

It is not the soiI that has kiIIed the buds.

There were 300,000 Christians
here in Japan before the soiI was...

Yes?

Was poisoned.

You have no repIy?

And why shouId you? You're...

You're never going to change my heart.

And it seems Iike
I'm not going to change yours.

You want to test my faith?
Give me a reaI chaIIenge.

Bring me to the Inquisitor.

Bring me to Inoue-sama.

Why are they Iaughing?

I didn't say anything funny.
Why are they Iaughing?

Because, Padre...

Because...

I am the Governor of Chikugo.

I am the Inquisitor.

I am Inoue.

How Iong... How Iong wiII they
have to work Iike this in the rain?

UntiI finished.

Padre. Padre! Padre!

PIease Iisten to me.

PIease Iisten to me!

I never took their money!

I did not betray you for money!

Be carefuI of him, Padre.

Maybe Inoue-sama pays him
to make us trampIe.

No, he did not!

PIease, Padre. Iet me confess.

Padre...

I know I smeII.

I smeII of sin.

I want to confess again
so the Iord can wash me cIean.

Why did you come here?

Is it for absoIution?

Do you have any understanding
what absoIution is?

Do you understand
what I've been saying?

Years ago,

I couId have died a good Christian.

There was no persecution!

Why was I born now?

This is so unfair!

I am sorry.

But do you stiII beIieve?

BIess me, Padre, for I have sinned.

I am sorry for being so weak.

I am sorry this has happened.

I am sorry for what I did to you.

HeIp me, Padre. Take away the sin.

I wiII try again to be strong!

Father, how couId
Jesus Iove a wretch Iike this?

There is eviI aII around in this pIace.

I sense its strength, even its beauty.

But there is none of that in this man.

He is not worthy to be caIIed eviI.

Go in peace.

I feeI...

I... I fear. Jesus, forgive me.

I may not be worthy of you.

Ikitsuki-jima, Kuboura, Chokichi.

Onajiku, Haru.

Onajiku, Tobe.

Onajiku, Wataichi.

Thank you, Iord, for hearing my prayer.

I'm sorry I've negIected you
for some days now, Padre.

But I had business in Hirado.

I hope you get to go there
yourseIf sometime.

I'm sure it's very beautifuI.

There is an interesting story
about the daimyo who ruIed there.

He had four concubines. Four!

They were aII beautifuI, but they...

I'm sorry.

Maybe this is not a story
for a ceIibate priest.

It's aII right. PIease go on.

In that case, the daimyo's
concubines were aII jeaIous

and they fought and fought without end.

So the daimyo of Hirado
drove them away from his castIe,

and peace came into his Iife again.

Do you think this story has a Iesson?

Yes.

That this was a very wise man.

I'm gIad.

That means you understand
the daimyo is Iike Japan,

and these concubines are Spain,

PortugaI, HoIIand, EngIand.

Each trying to gain the advantage
against the other

and destroy the house in the process!

Since you say this man is wise,

you wiII understand why
we must outIaw the Christian.

WeII,

our church teaches monogamy.

One wife.

What if Japan were to choose
one IawfuI wife from the four?

You mean PortugaI.

No.

I mean, the HoIy Church.

Don't you think
it wouId be better for the man

to forget about foreign women
and choose one of his own?

NationaIity is not so important
when it comes to a marriage.

What matters is Iove.

Iove and fideIity.

Iove.

Padre,

there are men who are pIagued
by the persistent Iove of an ugIy woman.

Is that what missionary work is to you?

An ugIy woman?

WeII...

Yes.

-Barren.
-A barren woman

cannot be a true wife.

If the gospeI has Iost its way here,
it's not the fauIt of the church.

It is the fauIt of those

who tear away the faithfuI
from their faith

Iike a husband from a wife.

You mean me?

Padre,

And you, HonorabIe Inquisitor,

do not seem to know Christianity.

There are those who think
of your reIigion as a curse.

I do not.

I see it in another way.

But stiII dangerous.

I'd Iike you to think about
the persistent Iove of an ugIy woman

and how a barren woman
shouId never be a wife.

Padre!

Padre! HeIp me, Padre!

HeIp me, pIease!

Padre! Padre!

Padre!

Where are you taking them?

Padre! Padre!

Padre!

You are traveIing today.

Sit down. It's better for you, I think.

PIease.

Padre.

How are you feeIing today?

I'm sure the air must feeI good

even though you were
in our newest prison.

The oId prison was very tough
on the padres.

-Rain, wind...
-Sorry. Excuse me.

When wiII Inoue-sama be here?

He's not coming today.

Do you miss him?

He treats me kindIy.

Three meaIs a day so that
my body wiII betray my heart.

That's your pIan, isn't it?

That's what you're waiting for.

-Not at aII.
-No?

But we are waiting for someone today.

Inoue-sama wants you to meet him.

He wiII be here any moment.

He's Portuguese Iike yourseIf.

You shouId have a Iot to taIk about?

Ferreira.

Is it who you expected?

-I want to taIk to him.
-There's no hurry.

It is earIy. PIenty of time.

TeII me. Does he know I'm here?

I cannot teII you.

I must not speak about the business
of the Inquisitor's office.

But I can teII you

he knows you are aIive
because we toId him you apostatized.

Now, do you know what
they use those mats for?

No.

Iook. The guard.

What couId he be saying
to Father Garupe?

Maybe this.

If you are truIy a Christian,
you wiII apostatize

and not Iet them die.

You know, the Inquisitor promises
that if Father Garupe apostatizes,

the four wiII be free.

I hope Father Garupe agrees.

I shouId teII you,
these Christians aIready trampIed

and denied their faith
at the Inquisitor's office.

If they did what you wanted,
then Iet them go.

Iet them go. They did what you wanted.

So Iet them go. PIease.

PIease! PIease! PIease! Iet them go!

We don't want them.

Four farmers?

There are stiII hundreds
of Christian peasants

on the isIands off the coast.

-No!
-We want the Padre to deny,

and be an exampIe to them.

No, pIease!

Apostatize! Apostatize!

For their sake, Iord,
do not Ieave this to us!

Take me instead!

No!

No, no, no! Garupe, no!

No, no, no! No!

No!

PIease! PIease, pIease!

TerribIe business! TerribIe!

No matter how many times you see it.

Think about the suffering
you have infIicted on these peopIe

just because of your seIfish dream
of a Christian Japan.

Your Deus punishes Japan through you!

At Ieast Garupe was cIean.

But you, you have no wiII!

You do not deserve to be caIIed a priest.

My God. My God.
Why have you forsaken me?

Why have you forsaken me?

I was your son.

Your son was going to the cross.

You were siIent, even to him.

Your siIent, coId son.

No, no.

Iudicrous. Iudicrous.

Stupid.

He's not going to answer.

Padre.

Come aIong, Padre.

Our priests do not Iike your priests,

but you wiII stiII find much of vaIue here.

What is it, Padre?

The incense?

The smeII of meat?

Have you had any meat
since you came to Japan?

I don't much Iike the smeII, myseIf.

Have you guessed yet?

Have you guessed who's coming?

This is Inoue-sama's command

and the other's wish.

The other?

Our Father, who art in heaven,
haIIowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come, thy wiII be done...

Padre, think of the souIs you can save,

Padre Ferreira.

Father...

Father Ferreira.

I'd given up.

So Iong since we have met.

PIease say something.

What

can I say to you on such an occasion?

If you have any pity for me,
say something.

Have you... Have you...

Have you been Iiving here for Iong?

About a year, I suppose.

Why? What is this pIace?

A tempIe where I study.

I'm in... I'm in a sort of prison

somewhere in Nagasaki.
I don't know preciseIy where.

I know it.

You were my teacher.

You were my confessor.

-My teacher.
-I'm much the same.

Do a singIe simpIe thing.

TeII me then, Padre.

TeII me you agree.

Do I...

Do I reaIIy seem so different?

The HonorabIe Sawano
spends his day writing

about astronomy.

At Inoue-sama's order.

There is great knowIedge here.

But in medicine and astronomy,
much remains to be taught.

I'm happy to heIp.

It is fuIfiIIing to finaIIy
be of use in this country.

Then you're happy, Father?

I said so.

Mention the other book you are writing.

It is caIIed Kengiroku.

It shows the errors of Christianity

and refutes the teachings of Deus.

Do you understand the titIe?

TeII him.

It means

deceit discIosed, or unmasked,
if you prefer a more fIorid reading.

His Iordship, the Inquisitor,
he praises it.

He says it is weII done.

It's the truth.

You use the truth Iike poison!

What a funny thing for a priest to say.

This is crueI. CrueI.

Worse than any torture
to twist a man's souI in this way.

I think you must be speaking of yourseIf.

Not of Sawano Chūan.

-Who?
-Him!

He is Ferreira onIy to you.

He is Sawano Chūan now.

A man who has found peace.

Iet him guide you aIong his path.

The path of mercy.

That means onIy that you abandon seIf.

No one shouId interfere
with another man's spirit.

To heIp others is the way of the Buddha
and your way, too.

The two reIigions are the same in this.

It is not necessary to win anyone over

to one side or another
when there is so much to share.

Go on.

I've been toId to get you
to abandon the faith.

This...

This is from the pit.

You're tied so you can't move
and hung upside down.

An incision is made.

You feeI the bIood
dripping down, drop by drop,

so it doesn't run to your head
and you won't die too soon.

Step on your Jesus.

You are the Iast priest
Ieft here now, Padre.

I'm sure Inoue-sama wiII be pIeased
to put an end to the pain.

He's a practicaI man, Padre.

Not a crueI one.

I have Iabored in this country
for 1 5 years.

I know it better than you.

Our reIigion does not
take root in this country.

Because the roots have been torn up.

No! Because this country is a swamp.

Nothing grows here.

PIant a sapIing here and the roots rot.

There was a time when Christianity
grew and fIourished here.

-When?
-When?

In your time, Father.

In your time, before you became Iike...

Iike who? Iike them?

Rodrigues, pIease Iisten.

The Japanese onIy beIieve
in their distortion of our gospeI.

So they did not beIieve at aII.

They never beIieved.

How can you say that?

From the time of St. Francis Xavier
through your own time.

There were hundreds
of thousands of converts here.

-Converts?
-Converts, yes!

Francis Xavier came here

to teach the Japanese
about the Son of God.

But first he had to ask
how to refer to God.

"Dainichi, " he was toId.

And shaII I show you their Dainichi?

BehoId. There is the Son of God.

God's onIy begotten Son.

In the scriptures,
Jesus rose on the third day.

In Japan,

the Son of God rises daiIy.

The Japanese cannot think
of an existence

beyond the reaIm of nature.

For them, nothing transcends a human.

-No.
-They can't conceive

of our idea of the Christian God.

No, you're wrong. You're wrong.

They worship God. God! Our Iord.

They praise the name of Deus.

That's just another word
for a god they never knew.

I saw men die!

I did, too.

For Deus! On fire with their faith!

Your martyrs may have been
on fire, Father,

but it was not for the Christian faith.

I saw them die. I saw them die.

They did not die for nothing.

They did not.

They're dying for you, Rodrigues.

How many did you save

when you trampIed
on the face of our Iord?

How many beside yourseIf?

I don't know.

CertainIy not as many as you may heIp.

You're trying to justify
your own weakness.

God have mercy on you.

Which god? Which one?

We say...

I'm sorry. You haven't Iearned
the Ianguage thoroughIy, have you?

There's a saying here.

Mountains and rivers can be moved,
but man's nature cannot be moved.

It's very wise, Iike so much here.

We find our originaI nature
in Japan, Rodrigues.

Perhaps it's what's meant
by finding God.

You're a disgrace.

You're a disgrace, Father.

I can't...

I can't even caII you that anymore.

Good. I have a Japanese name now,

and a wife, and chiIdren.

I inherited them aII
from an executed man.

How do you feeI?

He has shown you the path of mercy.

I hope you take it.

Why don't you just hang me in the pit?

Padre, you came here for them
and they aII hate you.

InsuIt me aII you Iike.
You just give me more courage.

You wiII need it tonight.

You are a good man, Padre.

You cannot stand suffering.

Your own or others'.

Inoue-sama says
you wiII apostatize tonight.

He was right about Ferreira.

And he's right about you.

God heIp me. Jesus heIp me.

In the garden, You said,

"Thy souI is sorrowfuI even unto death."

I wouId bIeed for you.

I wouId.

I wouId die for you if I knew you...

Are you here with me?

Padre. Forgive me.

Padre! I came here to make confession.

Padre!

Forgive me, Padre!

Forgive me!

Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop the noise!

Stop it! Someone heIp him!

-What do you need?
-Not me. Down there.

There is a man in agony

and the guard is sound asIeep
and snoring Iike a wiId dog!

You think that noise is the guard?

IncredibIe.

Sawano, teII him. Say what it is.

It is not the guard and it's not snoring.

It's Christians. Five of them, in fact.

AII hanging in the pit.

Have you found the words on the waII?

"Iaudate eum."

"Praise Him."

I cut them there with a stone
when I was in this ceII.

Iike you.

Be quiet.

Don't... Don't speak to me.

You have no right to speak to me.

I do. Because you are just Iike me.

You see Jesus in Gethsemane

and beIieve your triaI
is the same as His.

Those five in the pit are suffering, too,
just Iike Jesus,

but they don't have your pride.

They wouId never
compare themseIves to Jesus.

Do you have the right
to make them suffer?

I heard the cries of suffering
in this same ceII.

And I acted.

You excuse yourseIf!
You excuse yourseIf!

That is the spirit of darkness.

And what wouId you do for them? Pray?

And get what in return?
OnIy more suffering.

A suffering onIy you can end. Not God!

Go away from me.

I prayed, too, Rodrigues.

It doesn't heIp.

Go on. Pray.

But pray with your eyes open.

No!

You can spare them.

They caII out for heIp
just as you caII to God.

He is siIent, but you do not have to be.

They shouId apostatize. Apostatize!

God heIp me. Apostatize!
Korobu! Korobu!

But they have apostatized.

Many times over.

They're here for you, Rodrigues.

As Iong as you don't apostatize,
they cannot be saved.

A priest shouId act in imitation of Christ.

If Christ were here...

If Christ were here, He wouId've acted.

Apostatized for their sake.

No. No, He's here.

Christ is here. I just can't hear Him.

Show God you Iove Him!

Save the Iives of the peopIe He Ioves.

There is something more important

than the judgment of the Church.

You are now going to fuIfiII
the most painfuI act of Iove

that has ever been performed.

It's onIy a formaIity.

Just a formaIity.

Come ahead, now.

It's aII right.

Step on Me.

I understand your pain.

I was born into this worId
to share men's pain.

I carried this cross for your pain.

Your Iife is with Me now.

Step.

It was in the year 1641 ,

during the first of my voyages to Japan,

that I, Dieter AIbrecht,

came upon the most extraordinary story

in these pages.

Christian.

Non-Christian.

As a physician
in a great Dutch trading company,

I traveIed wideIy.

Christian.

But none of the wonders
I have recounted in this journaI

has been so commented on

as the curious matter...

Non-Christian.

...of the apostate priests.

Christian.

I came cIoser than any
European chronicIer

to the enigma of this country.

Non-Christian.

And to Iearning of the Iives
of the Iost priests.

Inoue, the Inquisitor, wouId raid homes

and search for any objects
with hidden Christian images.

Christian.

The two priests were required

to examine these things
and verify their use.

I even, on occasion,
observed them myseIf.

The Dutch were the onIy Europeans
aIIowed to trade in Japan.

AII ships were searched

to warrant they were not
smuggIing reIigious objects.

Nothing bearing the images
of the cross, a saint,

or rosary couId pass.

Despite every attempt,

a few things
inevitabIy were smuggIed in.

Christian.

And then it was
as distressing to the Japanese

as if bIood had been spiIIed.

We were taught to Iove
those who scorned us.

I feeI nothing for them.

OnIy our Iord can judge your heart.

You said, "Our Iord."

I doubt it.

When Sawano Chūan died,

the other priest assumed his duties
and performed them with distinction.

By this time, I observed he had acquired
considerabIe skiII with the Ianguage.

And seemed to be at peace
with his situation.

I have good news.

A man has died in Edo.

Okada San'emon.

You wiII take his name just as it is.

He had a househoId,
and a wife and son.

You can take her as your wife.

A man works best when he's not aIone.

You shouId know that on the isIands of

Ikitsuki and Gotò... No.

There are stiII many farmers
who think themseIves Christian.

Do you Iike that?
They can continue to be Christian.

You may take some satisfaction in that,

because the roots are cut.

Nothing grows in a swamp.

Yes, Japan is that kind of country.

The reIigion of the Christian
you brought us

has become a strange thing.

It's changed.

You were not defeated by me.

You were defeated
by this swamp of Japan.

WeIcome.

Okada San'emon Iived in Edo
for the remaining years of his Iife.

Some 10 years Iater,
I was aIIowed to visit Edo.

The Japanese gossiped freeIy
about Okada San'emon.

The Inquisitor Inoue,

demanded repeated vows
of apostasy from him.

And they say,

"The faIIen priest
suppIied them aII quickIy

"and vigorousIy."

I heard the Inquisitor
sent his men for you.

-Was there troubIe?
-No.

No, no. Just...

He onIy wanted to make sure
I wrote the "korobi-shoumon."

My Iatest oath of renunciation.

Thank you.

For being here with me.

Padre...

No. No.

I'm not... I'm not anymore.

I'm a faIIen priest.

But you are the Iast priest Ieft.

You couId stiII hear my confession.

No, I can't.

No! I can't!

I stiII suffer for what I did, Padre.

I betrayed you. I betrayed my famiIy.

I betrayed our Iord.

PIease...

Hear my confession.

Padre.

Iord, I fought against your siIence.

I suffered beside you.

I was never siIent.

I know.

But even if God had been
siIent my whoIe Iife,

to this very day,

everything I do, everything I've done...

Speaks of Him.

It was in the siIence
that I heard Your voice.

The Inquisitor continued to insist

on periodic examinations
of aII suspected Christians.

Okada San'emon
was not exempt from this.

Inoue was determined
to never Iet his exampIe be forgotten.

Perhaps most particuIarIy
by the priest himseIf.

Okada San'emon.

In the year 1667,

a reIigious image was
discovered inside an amuIet

beIonging to a servant caIIed Kichijiro.

The servant said
he had won it gambIing,

had never Iooked inside,

and couId never have gotten
the amuIet from Okada San'emon

since he was aIways under guard.

The servant Kichijiro was taken away.

After that, Okada San'emon
himseIf was carefuIIy watched.

During my Iast voyage in 1682,
I asked about him.

And the Japanese were eager to repIy.

The Iast priest

never acknowIedged the Christian God.

Not by word or symboI.

He never spoke of Him
and never prayed.

Not even when he died.

The business of his faith
was Iong ended.

Three guards
stood watch over the coffin

untiI it couId be taken away,
just to be certain.

OnIy his wife was briefIy
aIIowed to view the body,

and pIace there,
a humbIe mamorigatana

to ward off eviI spirits.

There was no indication that she wept.

The body was treated
in the Buddhist manner.

And he was given a posthumous
Buddhist name.

The man who was once Rodrigues

ended as they wanted.

And as I first saw him,

Iost to God.

But as to that, indeed,

onIy God can answer.