About

One of the most profound examinations of faith in postwar Japanese cinema, Masahiro Shinoda's Silence adapts Shūsaku Endo's masterpiece with a screenplay co-authored by the novelist himself. Set during the Tokugawa shogunate’s persecution of Christians, the film follows two Portuguese Jesuit missionaries who covertly enter Japan to locate their former mentor and aid hidden communities living under constant threat of torture and execution. As their convictions are tested by suffering, betrayal and the practice of fumie—ritualised apostasy through the trampling of sacred images—the narrative evolves into a profound examination of divine absence, redemption and the limits of belief.

Refusing simple oppositions between East and West, Shinoda explores the uneasy relationship between imported religion and Japanese cultural traditions with remarkable nuance and ambiguity. The director’s use of architectural framing and sprawling landscapes is heightened by Tōru Takemitsu’s unsettling score, deepening the film’s atmosphere of spiritual desolation.

Premiering internationally at the New York Film Festival and later competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, Silence earned four Mainichi Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Music, securing its place among the landmarks of Japanese cinema.

Ages 15+ | Contains strong violence