"Early in the 16th century, Martin Luther rose to fame" "He criticised the Roman Church  savagely attacking the Church and clergy" "The resultant break of the Protestants produced  a serious religious crisis in Europe" "In 1534, in Spain  Ignacio de Loyola founded the Society of Jesus" "It reflected a crisis in Catholicism" "They fought to rebuild the Church  and widened their work beyond Europe" "In 1549, along with the gun  Francisco Xavier of the Society of Jesus ... arrived on the southern shores of Japan" "Thirty years later, 200 churches  75 priests and 300,000 believers existed in Japan" "The rapid spread  of the new religion which came with the gun  worried Japan's rulers" "The examples of Western culture planted fear in the rulers' hearts" "The new religion was suppressed" "From the late 16th century to the middle of the 17th century  was a bitter time for Christians in Japan" "Countless priests, monks and believers were murdered" "Many others disappeared" "Padre Ferreira was one of them" "Original story by Shusaku Endo" "Screenplay by Shusaku Endo and Masahiro Shinoda" "Photographed by Kazuo Miyagawa" "Music by Toru Takemitsu" "Starring" "David Lampson" "Mako lwamatsu" "Don Kenny" "Tetsuro Tanba" "Yoshiko Mita" "Shima Iwashita" "Directed by Masahiro Shinoda" "Padre..." "In Macao you promised to pay me as soon as we reached Japan, with a bonus" "Remember?" "I've been wanting to ask you are you really a Christian, Kichijiro?" "Are you really Japanese?" "Of course I am Japanese" "If the officials come, say you don't know me." "Don't forget" "We understand" "Be sure." "I'm going now" "Padre!" "." "Padre!" "." "Our hearts are the same as yours" "You must change." "Put these clothes on quickly" "You mustn't be seen" "Please hurry!" "." "Padre!" "." "Shut the door!" "." "You will rest here tonight" "At dawn, we'll take you to the mountains" "Here..." "You'll be safe here." "No one will come" "Are there no priests?" "No monks?" "We've had no priests or monks visit here for years" "If we're caught, all the villagers will be killed" "We can only trust our own villagers" "Strangers would inform on us right away" "What about baptism and prayers?" "Who passes on the teachings?" "We do it all" "We do the best we can each taking a role in teaching or baptising" "We've done things this way in hiding for years" "The Padres and monks abandoned us and went far away" " What's that sound?" " It's the rain" "The rainy season has started here." "It'll last many weeks" "Let us make our way" "Let us make our way" "Make our way To the Temple of Paradise" "We call it the Temple of Paradise" "We call it the Great Temple" "That Temple is to be found" "Within our hearts" "There is something I must ask all of you" "Does anybody know where Padre Ferreira is?" "He came to Japan twenty years ago and he preached the gospel in this territory" "He went to Kyoto, then to Edo" "All we know is he was captured five years ago" "Since then, we've heard nothing" "Has anybody here heard any news about him?" "In our country called Portugal, when Garrpe and I were children he taught us about the Lord" "We decided to come to Japan to spread Christianity for Father Ferreira" "So we want to know what happened to him" "Is he alive?" "Or did he die bravely for the sake of Our Lord and go to Paradise?" "We need to know" "Do you know anything?" "Do you?" "We warned you!" "We told you never go outside!" "Don't be angry." "We just wanted a little sun" "You must never go outside again!" "If something happens, you must hide in here immediately" "Open the door." "Don't be afraid" "We're fishermen." "We haven't seen a Padre for many years" "Won't you trust us, Padre?" "Five days ago we were the ones watching you from the other mountain" "We heard Padres were in Tomogi Village" "Who told you?" "Kichijiro, a Christian among us, told us" " Kichijiro?" " Yes, Padre" "But Kichijiro's not a Christian, is he?" "Yes." "He certainly is a Christian" "Eight years ago, someone informed on his family" "Kichijiro and his brother and sister were ordered to place their feet on the Lord's image" "The fumi-e?" "Yes." "His brother and sister refused but Kichijiro was so terrified at the test that he promised he'd renounce the faith" "His brother and sister were thrown straight into prison and the very next day, they were burned alive at the stake" "Kichijiro disappeared." "No one had seen him since then" "But he showed up again?" "And told you about us?" "He boasts that he brought you Padres to Japan" "He's popular in our village" "We don't have mass or confessions" "We just say our prayers" "Come to our village, Padre!" "Come this way" "That day, the wind was very strong" "They were thrown into the boiling waters at a place called Hell Valley of Mt Unzen" "Fathers Ludovico, Johann, Antonio Julian, Marta, Michael Thomas and lgnatus..." "I can still picture the scene" "The pagans cheered as each one fell" "Uneme Takenaka was the embodiment of evil" "Matsukura, too" "They grabbed Fathers Dominico and John and they tied their hands behind their backs" "Then straw mats were wrapped about them and set on fire" "As the fire spread, they began to jump around" "The pagans laughed, calling them "the mat-dancers"" "They were thoroughly enjoying the spectacle" "Following the Christian faith nowadays is even more dangerous for us" "And Magistrate Inoue is to blame" "Inoue is the devil incarnate he is the leader of the pagans" "The islanders were overjoyed to see you" "They've waited a long time for a Padre to come across the ocean" "Girls even smile at me since I brought you" "Listen to me" "I know what you want to say" "But I've reformed" "That's why I'm accompanying you around the area" "Why did you say you'd renounce the faith?" "It was just momentary confusion" "I don't feel that way now" "Can you swear that to me?" "That you'll keep the faith under any pressure?" "I swear!" "." "Please forgive me for what I've done" "But, Padre, you don't know how they tortured us" "That's why you're so angry now" "There are the strong and the weak in this world" "The strong bear up and go to heaven" "But a weak man like me..." " Padre!" "." " Mokichi!" " Officials are in the village!" " Officials?" "Yes, to arrest us" "Us, too?" "They don't know about you." "But you can't go back to the village" " Where's Garrpe?" " He's hiding." "I'll take you to him" "There is no time for discussion!" "It has been reported that there are prohibited Christians amongst you" "I will give you 1 00 pieces of silver for their names!" "Take that one!" "We'll take him as hostage until you decide to talk!" "We'll come back in three days for more hostages!" "Think it over!" "We didn't tell them about you Padres" "And we never will" "No matter what!" "But that means all of you will be taken hostage" "Yes." "But still we won't talk" "We can't allow that." "We would rather leave Tomogi Village" "We could go to Kichijiro's island" "But since they came here, Padre, they'll go there, too" "You must go further away" "I'd like to go along, but it's too dangerous" "Since you still refuse to say anything we must believe you" "But we must find out who is the liar you lot or the informer" "The hostages will then return" "Today we must take three more hostages to Nagasaki" "They will come to no harm" "Those three shall be..." "You and you and you" "You will prove to the magistrate that you are not Christians and then I give you my word you will be returned here" "You are all aware that Christianity is forbidden, are you not?" "But it has been reported that you are Christians" "What do you have to say?" "We always pay our taxes" "We have Buddhist funerals" "Then you claim that you're not really Christians?" " Yes, sir" " Well, that makes the Magistrate happy" "Do you know what this is?" "A Christian carving" "Exactly" "It's called the Santa Maria" "Christians worship this" "But to non-Christians like yourselves, it has no meaning" "Step on it!" "You must step on this!" "Stand up!" "Stand up!" "What's wrong with you?" "Non-Christians should have no worries about stepping on it" "So you think you've fooled us with that?" "Don't think I didn't see you all breathing nervously" "You're wrong!" "We're not Christians!" "Then spit on this!" "And say Santa Maria is a whore!" "No?" "How about you?" "And you?" "How about you?" "Spit!" "We hear you!" "Let us make our way to the Temple of paradise" "Let us make our way..." "Padre!" "Padre." "It's been a long time" "It's dangerous for you here" "The officials are on this island, too" "You must eat" "Eat it!" "We use these snakes for medicine" "Is there a river?" "You want some water?" "You sure gobbled that dried fish" "Isn't there a river?" "A river..." "Padre!" "Why did you run off?" "Don't you trust me?" "Please don't feel bad." "I'm just very tired" "I just want you to leave me alone" "Alone?" "What for?" "I know a village with Christians and Padres" " Padres?" " And they're not Japanese Padres" "Padre, you don't trust me anymore" "Nobody trusts me anymore" "Mokichi was strong, like the paddy fields that we plant" "But a weak paddy field stays weak, no matter what you fertilise it with" "I was born weak, Padre, like a weak paddy field" "Kichijiro, kneel!" "Our Lord was crucified" "Our Lord was crucified" "Our Lord was crowned with thorns" "Our Lord was crowned with thorns" "Our Lord was crowned with thorns" "Our Lord was crowned with thorns" "Padre, forgive me!" "Forgive me!" "Forgive me!" "I'm weak, not strong like Mokichi or lchizo" "Take him!" "Here they come!" "Look how tall he is!" "He's evil!" "By the powers invested in us by the Nagasaki Magistrate we have come to take custody of Padre Rodrigues" "We are grateful for your presence" "Hello, sir." "I can speak Japanese" "I see!" "In that case, I won't have to use the foreign tongue I learned at seminary" "I went to a seminary, but I'm not a Christian" "Why did you learn it then?" "To succeed in life" "A samurai can take up arms or education" "I chose education" "You knew Christianity is forbidden" "Still you came." "Why?" "I'm ready for martyrdom" "Blind bravery like yours is a bother to others" "Christianity is like an unwelcome gift that is forced on the receiver" "We have our own religion" "We don't need yours" "Many things were taught to us at the seminary but they are all utterly useless" " That's a pointless argument!" " Pointless?" "Change into these!" "They're clean" "They're the sacred garments of a Buddhist priest" "I don't need them" "Change into them quickly." "The officials are coming" "It's a Padre!" "I didn't know we had a Padre here" "I've been here for five days." "Have you...?" "My word, he can speak Japanese so well" "No talking allowed!" "Lord Chikugo is concerned for you, Padre" "He wishes for you to feel comfortable" "Nationality:." "Portuguese." "Name:." "Rodrigues" "Arrived from Macao." "Correct?" "We are deeply moved and impressed by your determination in travelling such a great distance to our country" "You must have suffered greatly" "Forgive the inconvenience, but we must conduct these investigations" "It is not the validity of the Padre's religious beliefs that we are questioning" "In Spain, Portugal and other Western countries the Padre's religion is perfectly valid" "But here in Japan, we have banned Christianity because it is of no value to us" "Truth should be universal" "Why else would we teach it?" "If it's not truth in Japan then how could it be anywhere else?" "All the Padres say that" "But even a tree chooses the place it will grow" "Christianity may flourish in other countries but not here in Japan" "Have you ever thought of that?" "It should grow and bloom here!" "Of course, it was well known in Macao and even in Europe that Padres were sent on missions to work in Japan" "When permission to preach was granted here in Japan the believers numbered more than 300,000" "If Christianity doesn't grow here it is due to lack of cultivation" "Why are we discussing this anyway?" "My words won't be able to change your mind" "Nor can yours change mine" "No matter what I say I shall be executed" "We won't execute you without reason" "That's not Inoue's way" "He would execute me immediately" "Why are you laughing?" "That is Inoue, Lord of Chikugo, sitting there before you" "It's 300 mon" "What is?" "You want to have me, don't you?" "You're funny" "Where are you from?" "Why ask me that?" "It doesn't matter where one is from" "Are you crying?" "No!" "Forget it." "Whatever it is, forget it" "Such painful things aren't easy to forget" "However low you've fallen, I won't be shocked" "You've never been as low as I am." "It just doesn't compare!" "What did you do?" "Did you kill somebody?" "I did something worse!" "You want me or not?" "You have money?" "Money?" "Sure I've got money" "Did you steal it?" "I sold for it" "Fine" "Nobody enjoys taking money that's stolen" "Come on!" "What's wrong?" "Spit in my face!" "That's disgusting" "What do you mean?" "If you spit on me, I'll give you all my money" "Or I can't forgive myself" "Spit on me!" "And how are you?" "You must find all this very tedious" "We have something to show you to relieve your boredom" "Sanemon Okada and his wife, Kiku" "This is your last chance" "I ask you again, will you renounce Christianity?" "And you?" "Hey, you!" "Hey!" "What are you doing here?" "Get away from here!" "Don't hang around here!" "Sanemon Okada will you bring shame on yourself as a samurai and still refuse?" "Kiku, they're coming for us from Paradise" "It won't be long" "Padre, please listen!" "I want to confess" "Oh, Padre!" "Padre!" "I've deceived you" "Won't you listen to me?" "Padre, you made fun of me" "That's why I hate you and all believers" "I stepped on the fumi-e." "I did!" "Mokichi and lchizo were strong, but I am not" "Are you drunk?" "What should a weak man like me do?" "I didn't betray you for the money" "It was because they threatened me" "Get out!" "Padre, listen!" "I couldn't help it!" "Get out!" "Listen..." "I'm a Christian!" "Throw me in jail!" "Right." "Get in here" "Padre!" "Hear my confession!" "I want to repent and start all over again" "Please, listen, Padre!" "I renounced my faith!" "But if I had been born sooner I'd have lived and died a good Christian" "But I was born when Christianity is banned" "How I regret it!" "It's been a long time" "I've been to Hirado" "You should visit there sometime if you have the chance" "There is the Matsuura castle and a hill facing a peaceful bay" "I heard in Macao that it's a beautiful town" "I wouldn't say it's beautiful, but it's certainly interesting" "I heard an interesting story when I was there" "Lord of Hirado once had four concubines" " Concubines?" " Correct" "The four women were always fighting amongst themselves" "The Lord was troubled by this" "What do you think he did, Padre?" "I don't know" "He threw all of them out" "Perhaps stories of women do not interest a celibate man like yourself" "I'm glad to see that you agree with him" "So, Padre do you not think that Japan is in the same position?" "Spain, Portugal, Holland, England they all fight for Japan's favour like concubines" "If you think the Lord was wise you must understand why Japan has banned Christianity" "We believe a man should have one wife" "And a married man must not cavort with other women" "Japan, too, should choose a single wife out of the four" "You mean it should be Portugal?" "But, Padre why should Japan choose a foreigner?" "Surely a woman of his own country is best suited for him" "A woman's heart is more important than her nationality" "But if it were only the heart that mattered there'd be no infidelity" "The love of an unwanted woman is most troublesome to any man" "And such a marriage will produce no offspring" "And she is barren" "If she's barren, it's not the fault of the Church" "It is the fault of you and your people who try to separate the believers from their Church" "It seems you don't know Japan very well, Padre" "And it seems you don't know Christianity well" "Thirty years ago, I too was taught by Padres" "Still, I have to forbid it" "I have my own reasons" "It's not that I think Christianity is bad" "Do it quickly and put an end to your suffering" "You're free to believe what you want" "This is only a formality" "It will not harm your beliefs" "Step on it, and your troubles will be over" "A samurai becoming a Christian!" "Who cares about him?" "Enough, enough" "Stop, please!" "I beg you, stop!" "Renounce and we'll stop" "Understand?" "If you renounce, I will stop the horse" "You mustn't renounce, Kiku!" "You mustn't renounce!" "Kiku, don't look at me!" "Be strong!" "Don't step on the image!" "She stepped on it!" "Pull him out!" "Kiku!" "I renounce my faith!" "Listen to me!" "Give me the fumi-e!" "." "Take him away!" "I'll renounce my faith!" "I'll renounce!" "Give me the fumi-e!" "." "Give me the fumi-e!" "." "Please, Magistrate!" "Give me the fumi-e!" "." "Kiku!" "Kiku!" "Listen carefully, all of you!" "The sooner you step on the image, the sooner you'll be free" "I tell you again, it will not affect your beliefs" "It is simply a formality" "You want to go beneath the horse's hooves, too?" "I'll stand on it!" "Get out!" "Get up!" "You're leaving" "Where is everyone?" "At the Magistrate's" "Under the Magistrate's orders, you are to meet a certain person" "That person will be here shortly." "Do you know who it is?" "Really?" "Here he comes" "Can you guess what is going to happen next?" "The Magistrate says that if Garrpe renounces his faith all the farmers will be set free" "You see, Padre it's not the nameless people who we want to renounce their faith" "Many Christian farmers are hiding all over the country" "If you Padres yield to us, their lives will be saved, too" "You selfishly force your own dreams on us" "You never think of the bloodshed that you are causing" "Just look" "Their blood is flowing" "The blood of those innocent farmers is flowing!" "Garrpe was brave" "But you, on the other hand, you're just a coward" "You're not worthy of being called a Padre?" "What is your name?" "It was Monica but not any longer" "How will you survive now?" "I don't know" "What would you do, Padre if you were me?" "You did all that you could" "The Lord will forgive you" "In this world, neither God nor Buddha exists" "There's nothing at all anymore" "Did you hear?" "Another body was found washed up on the beach" "They said it was a Christian woman all tied up" "How cruel!" "The officials threw her in the water off a boat" "Even with treatment like that the Christians still believe in their god" "How pitiful!" "They're idiots!" "Duped by Padres!" "They asked for it" "Are you...?" "Are you crying?" "Not at all!" "Have a drink!" "Why are you crying?" "Were you a Christian before?" " What?" " I don't care if you were or not" "Where are you from?" "What's it to you?" "Sold, weren't you?" "Yes" "It was during the drought, four years ago" "It was the only way we could eat" "Want to see your folks again?" "What for, you fool?" "Any brothers and sisters?" "Yes, I have a little brother about this big" "I often wonder how he's getting along" "It's a tough world!" "Really tough!" "Too tough!" "Do you know who you're about to meet?" "The Magistrate thinks it's time that you saw him" "Inoue thinks so?" "Right." "And the man wants to see you, too" "Don't call Lord Sawano Padre Ferreira" "He has renounced his Christian faith and he's taken a Japanese name, Chuan Sawano" "Isn't that right, Lord Sawano?" "He's working on another book" "It tells of the errors in Christian teachings" "The title is "Falsehoods Revealed"" "I'm useful here" "I help the people of Japan" "I introduced astronomy" "I got telescopes from a Dutch ship's captain" "I'm of use here in this country" "Lord Sawano, we didn't bring Rodrigues here for long discussions" "Give him the old priest's message" "I'm here to ask you to renounce your Christianity" "Look at this" "He was hung in the pit" "His arms and legs were bound and then he was hung in the pit" "Then they proceeded to cut holes behind his ears so his blood could trickle out and thus keep him alive" "It was Magistrate Inoue's idea" "I preached in this nation for twenty years" "I understand this country better than you" "Our religion can't take root in a country like this" "This country is like a swamp" "You will learn that" "A swamp more terrifying than we ever imagined" "A terrifying swamp where any seedling planted is destined to rot" "The leaves wither and the plant dies" "It was in such a terrifying swamp that we first sowed the seeds of Christianity" "That is not..." "That is not our God" "That is not true" "It is not our God, but their gods that these people believe in" "We didn't realise that for a long time" "We thought they could become Christians" "Maybe you've seen it already how the farmers worship the Kannon Buddha as Mary" "They love that pagan figure more than the teachings of our Lord" "Probably no one will believe what I say" "Not only you" "Neither will the Jesuits in Goa or Macao nor all the holy fathers in Rome!" "No one will believe me!" "The saint never once noticed the fact" "Xavier taught them about Deus but the Japanese changed it into their own sun god" "They call it Dainichi, and it became their god" "They bend and change our God into something else something quite different" "That is all" "Has anyone come to save you?" "Jeers from all sides" "No one needs you!" "Come on, just say you'll renounce and you'll never go back there again" "To the Magistrate's" "I don't want you to suffer." "Just renounce!" "Get out of here!" "Get away!" "Go!" "I'm a Christian, let me see the Padre" "Be quiet or I'll beat you!" "Who is he?" "He's crazy" " He says he's a Christian" " Right" "Padre, forgive me!" "Please forgive me!" "I came to confess." "Please forgive me!" "Get out!" "Well, Padre, was the experience frightening?" "Stop being stubborn" "Take the easy way out" "He thinks that's snoring, Lord Sawano!" "The Padre thinks it's snoring." "Tell him the truth" "That's not snoring that you hear" "It is the sound of believers groaning with pain in the pit" "You were brought up after a short time but they've been there for six hours already" "Listen to me..." "Somewhere on that wall are some letters that I carved" ""LAUDATE EUM"" "If they're still there you should find them on the wall to the right, near the post" "Try to touch them" "I heard the voices here as you do now" "It wasn't because I was tortured that I renounced my faith" "For two days they hung me by the ankles in the pit" "But in spite of that I didn't utter a word against God" "The real reason I renounced was because God had done nothing" "I prayed desperately to Our Lord but He did nothing" "You can pray all you like but it's those believers who are suffering more than you can ever imagine!" "They've been hanging there since yesterday" "And all day today" "Why do they have to suffer?" "You can do nothing for them" "God can do nothing for them either!" "The night that I was in here five people were hanging in that pit" "Their five voices were carried on the wind and I heard them" "The officials told me..." ""lf you renounce your faith..." ""...they will be pulled out of the pit immediately..." ""...their ropes will be cut and they will be given medicine"" "Sawano, is he ready for the fumi-e?" "It's a mere formality, a mere formality" "Notice:. the practice of Christianity is absolutely forbidden" "Today three ships came into Nagasaki Harbour" "They were loaded with silk gold brocades, hemp cloth and two boxes of jars" "In the cargo hold of one of the ships we found these" "Are these forbidden Christian objects?" "What do you think?" "The Magistrate has ordered you to examine them as part of his investigation" "This is not a Christian object" "What do you think?" "I'm in agreement with Sawano" "The chalice used in the Christian mass is taller here" "You're sure of that?" "Yes, sir" "You have done your job well." "That will be all for today" "From that day onward  Sebastian Rodrigues was called Sanemon Okada" "The End"