The Japanese was right to defend their country from foreign religions, but probably not in the manner they went about it.
It was wrong for the priests to make prisoners suffer just to hold onto their own pride and belief.
It is in itself a form of torture to live a life and raise a family against your own beliefs.
I didn't think this movie was incredible, but it's sticking with me.
I think it's Scorsese's best picture - certainly top three. I think he dives into so much stuff here. I think he digs in deep to what it means to try and believe in something in a world that doesn't want that. He shows the contrast between faith and doubt, and the road a priest leads and all that.
I don't know that some of these issues are as clear as your statements are making them seem. For instance, "The Japanese were right to defend their country from foreign religions..." is a statement which could generate much controversy in modern times. For instance, if somebody defended Trump's travel ban by saying that he was right to defend the US against a foreign religion, I think that would be controversial.
I'm also not sure the priests were doing what they were doing out of pride. I think if that was a prime motivator they would have broken sooner.
The movie certainly sticks with you.
I think comparing the bakufu's anti-Christian policy with Trump's racist anti-immigration laws is apples and oranges at best. US anti-immigration sentiment is targeted against poor and working-class people who are just seeking a better life in a country richer than their own (largely because that country plunders their countries economically). The bakufu's prohibition of Christianity was directed against a church that was a worldwide instrument of colonialism at the time. Japan was well aware of what Spain and Portugal had been doing in the Americas, Africa, the Philippines, India and elsewhere. They feared the church because with the church came the conquistadors. Japan was trying to avoid being conquered and turned into an exploited colony of European powers. While Japan was itself quite racist and xenophobic, this doesn't change the fact that the core of the anti-Christian policy was very different from the Trumpites' America-first racism. The US is under no colonial threat; the Trump movement is just white people hating brown people. The racism is the core of the policy. Japan's racism was incidental; the core of its policy was fear of being subjected to worldwide colonial empires.
Personally, I think the bakufu was probably correct to ban Christianity, because Japan was in very real danger of being colonized, and the expulsion of the church enabled Japan to have another two centuries of independence. This is not to say that I think the treatment of Christians was good, or that Japan's own racism and empire-building down the road was any better than that of Europe. I simply believe the expulsion of Christians was the lesser of two evils in a time where there were only evils to choose from.
As a side note, I think the arguments by the anti-Christians in the movie about Japan being a swamp where Christianity couldn't take root is nonsense. The fact is, if that were the case, there would be no need to stamp Christianity out with such violence.
I think most people who supported Trump's policies would probably site similar reasoning: they see an influx of Muslims as threatening their way of life. I'm not saying it's founded in fact, just that they would believe it.
And, while I believe that a country has the right to decide who they want to let in and keep out, I also believe that people should be allowed to think what they want and worship how they choose.
You're right, the situation is complicated because religion isn't usually just religion, and can become a major political problem, too. And I agree that the Japanese's motivation was political as much as religious. But if we're comparing it to the modern US, I think a lot of the reasons for Trump's actions were political, too - not just religious bigotry.
Oh, and just for the record: I do not like Trump, generally-speaking, so I am not trying to defend his polities at all.
It was a good movie, not that I want to see everyday, but still good. Doesn't matter what is your religion. The movie is about the priests' religion in Japan. All the suffering was atrocious and unbearable to the priests. It's a very deep movie, of course not everybody will like it. Due to the dark nature of the film, I tend to consider it as horror rather than a religious film.
shareit's a very thought provoking movie... I'm glad Scoresese decided to tackle this subject... he did it well..
I think the critics and media tried to ignore this movie, because it would challenge a lot of accepted beliefs that they have... both in terms of the importance of belief as a human drive as well as the idea you outline about cultures resisting outside influence in order to maintain internal order and continuity... very interesting topics that are worth thinking about and discussing...
but it requires the nuance of a good filmmaker, or a conversation or an essay... not a tweet or tabloid headline or such...