I ask because I'm on holiday there and plan on watching it in cinemas and it will be in English with subs rather than dubbed in Japanese. So my question is whether the Japanese dialogue will no longer be English subbed as it's the spoken language of the paying audience?
shareI don't know for sure, but I would assume any Japanese dialogue would be without subtitles. I wouldn't worry, though. There really isn't that much Japanese dialogue in the film. If I remember correctly, the Japanese cast even translate for the Portuguese characters in certain scenes where Japanese is spoken.
shareI saw it at Toshimaen and the Japanese was without subtitles at least that screening.
shareHow are Japanese audiences reacting to this movie?
sharea fight broke out in my theater over the Christianity and Buddhist - nah, it was just two drunk dudes who got angry when one of them brush past the other roughly. I got a free pass for a movie because of it.
As it is I think the Japanese better understand the historical background than western audiences who will either see Japan has inherently anti-Christian/Western in the 17th Century or that the big bad West was forcing it's religion/culture on another country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPW937iFTbs
As far as I know, the audience's reactions here in Japan are great. The original novel and its author have been respected for decades in Japan, so the religion and history part was already taken care of right there. And the movie director equally had already attracted so many serious Japanese movie-goers, so all we had to do is to wait for the great director to do the right thing (because SO many foreign movie directors don't!). And he did, to the extent that it's miraculous! It's amazingly authentic!
We also get to notice the gorgeous Japanese cast in which many don't even have lines, which is also great as an art form. I'm more interested in what the Portuguese think, because they're being portrayed by American actors.
I'd also like to note that I recommend you to watch ronindave's video. It's a must-see!
By the way, modern missionaries in Japan (of all religion, that is) have been trying their best to accept diversity. It's normal to visit Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples on trips from Christian schools, like the ones I attended, and the Buddhist temple of my family grave has a painting on the wall of Christian graves. The other thing that the Japanese today (whether you're left or right) try to be strict about is to not link religion with politics or war. History has taught us too many lessons.
A portuguese Jesuit said that both priest "where move convincing as Jesuits then as Portuguese". I haven`t seen the film yet.
shareto be fair I don't think the author knew that much of the Portuguese either as I didn't pick that up much from the novel. His nationality was rather incidental.
share[deleted]
There is no English subtitles/dubs whatsoever on the theater versions in Japan. I've seen it twice here in Japan, and double-checking the official Japanese website of this movie, I know for sure. By the way, there is not Japanese-dubbed version of this movie shown in theaters. All voices are as is with Japanese subtitles on the English dialog.
But it might be a fun experience for you, because that's the puzzle that the foreign priests had experienced at the time. That said, a large part of the Japanese dialog is important in trying to follow the plot and knowing the theme, so you may want to see it both in Japan and in your home country. In fact, although I'm a native Japanese speaker, I found that the second time was much more easier to understand the plot/theme than the first time, probably because on the first time I didn't know what to expect.