Zenit reports today that...
An Academy Award-winning director is planning a movie on Japanese Christians martyred in the 17th century.
Martin Scorsese will film the movie in New Zealand and release it in 2010, according to the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun. Names of actors linked to the project include Daniel Day-Lewis, Gael García Bernal and Benicio Del Toro.
Scorsese is known for his work on films including "The Age of Innocence," "The Departed," "Gangs of New York," "Casino" and the controversial "The Last Temptation of Christ."
The film on the Japanese martyrs is based on the book "Chinmoku" (Silence), by the Catholic Japanese author Shusaku Endo. The novel tells the story of a Portuguese missionary in Japan at the beginnings of the 17th century. "Silence" refers to the silence of God before the cross of Christ, in telling of the missionary's forced apostasy in the midst of horrendous torture.
Endo (1923-1997) was baptized at age 12. His novels reflect his effort to show Christianity reconciled with Oriental culture, as well as his vision of human weakness, sin and grace. Among his other writings are "A Life of Jesus" and "Deep River," in which he tries to present Christianity to the Asian mentality.
Last Dec. 10, almost 200 Japanese martyrs from the same era as the plot of "Silence" were canonized. Japan is today less than 1% Christian, of which only about 450,000 are Catholics.
This would certainly be a very interesting thing to put into film. I wonder though if it will try to make it appear as though apostasy (which many of the christians did, as well as the protagonist in Endo's novel) is the correct path for people under persecution?
ReplyDeleteGod Bless,
Another Japanese story is that of Hiroshima when 3 Catholic priests survived unscathed from within 300 yards of the epicentre of the bomb.
ReplyDeleteWhen asked what or how they had been saved one responded: "Because we lived Fatima, we said the Rosary"