giuseppe chiara ( 1602 – 24 august 1685 ) was an italian jesuit missionary active in 17th century japan .

he entered japan at a time when christianity was strictly forbidden in an attempt to locate fellow priest cristóvão ferreira who had apostatized his christian faith at the hands of torture by the japanese authorities in 1633 .

chiara was also tortured and eventually became an apostate as well .

he later married a japanese woman , taking the name and samurai status of her late husband , okamoto san 'em on ( japanese : 岡本三右衛門 ) , and would live in japan until his death in 1685 .

giuseppe chiara

s . angelo minore , s . maria della misericordia , san giuseppe , santa chiara , san filippo
japan ' s historical records show that only two missionaries from italy had been held at the site , sidotti and giuseppe chiara .
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giuseppe chiara ' s last name was changed to okamoto , and he was given a japanese wife . we know that chiara remained at the “christian house” for 40 years until his death in 1685 . ( this fr . chiara is the model for fr . sebastian rodrigues in endo’s aforementioned novel silence ) .
among them was giuseppe chiara , a jesuit missionary who smuggled himself into japan in the 17th century . he lived in this compound for 40 years until his death in his 80s .
wzb - demographic development , social change , and social capital - prof . chiara saraceno
they were then allowed to live in japan under confinement , and given japanese names . giuseppe chiara ' s last name was changed to okamoto , and he was given a japanese wife .
“un comandamento inattuale ? ” , in : laras , giuseppe ; saraceno , chiara , onora il padre e la madre , bologna : il mulino 2010 , voci series , pp . 85 - 130 .
the name giuseppe is a boy ' s name of italian origin . giuseppe and is often added to lists like variations of joseph and discussed in our forums with posts like
build a sibling set together !
.
in june 1643 the second rubino group , consisting of the italian jesuits pedro márquez , alonso arroyo , francisco cassola , giuseppe chiara , and six companions , landed on ōshima in chikuzen and were immediately arrested .
giuseppe chiara was an italian priest who apostatized ( swore off christianity ) in 1643 . he later married a japanese woman , taking the name and samurai status of her late husband , okamoto san ' emon .
among its first occupants were four italian jesuits giuseppe chiara , pedro marquez , alfonso arroyo and francisco cassola who had infiltrated japan on a mission to find cristovao ferreira and convince him to return to the faith .
endo based his novel on historical documents , including a 17th - century diary written by a clerk in a residence in which apostate catholics , including giuseppe chiara , lived . this is especially important for the final chapter of the novel .
compri was surprised to learn that chiara was being honored as a martyr , and not remembered as an apostate .
cristóvão ferreira ( 1580 - 1650 ) , the former teacher whom rodrigues is seeking , was a historical figure who did , indeed , apostasize . the character of rodrigues was based on an italian priest , giuseppe chiara ( 1610 - 1685 ) .
dna analysis on a tooth showed it to be of italian extraction . at the time just two italians were in the country , sidotti and the jesuit missionary priest father giuseppe chiara . the latter was cremated after he died aged 84 so it could not be his skeleton .
the only other italian males known to have come to the kirishitan yashiki were the four missionaries mentioned above : giuseppe chiara , pedro marquez , alfonso arroyo and francisco cassola . the fate of three of the men is unknown , but we know that chiara remained at the kirishitan yashiki until he died at the age of 84 , and his body was cremated ( this scene is depicted in the 2016 movie silence where the main character - - based on giuseppe chiara - - is cremated in an upright sitting position in a wooden barrel - type container ) . the skeleton at the construction site was not cremated , and was of someone closer to sidotti ' s age when he died at the age of 46 .
chiara lived in remorse for renouncing his faith ,
said compri .
but i believe he never really gave it up .
chiara underwent many kinds of torture in captivity . while imprisoned , he was reunited with cristovao ferreira , his former mentor - turned - apostate .
last spring , compri visited chiara ' s hometown in sicily . a portrait of chiara he saw bore a caption that read ,
he worked as a missionary in japan , but was called to heaven when he was fatally stabbed in the neck with sharp bamboo sticks by the locals .
chiara was given a japanese wife and the name of sanemon okamoto , and confined in the christian compound in edo ( present - day tokyo ) .
keck , wolfgang and chiara saraceno ,
grandchildhood in germany and italy : an exploration
, in : leira , arnlaug and chiara saraceno ( eds . ) , childhood : changing contexts . comparative social research , vol . 25 , bingley , uk , emerald 2008 , pp . 135 - 166 .
we ' re excited that you have an opinion about the name giuseppe . to rate names on nameberry , please register for an account or log in to an existing account .
„introduction : intergenerational relations in families - a micro - macro perspective” , in : chiara saraceno ( hg . ) , families , ageing and social policy .
i thought about the inner dignity with which chiara lived into his old age , bearing up under the stigma of
korobi bateren
( fallen priest ) .
the story was based on the experiences of a real - life italian missionary , giuseppe chiara . in the book , he is called sebastiao rodriguez , and he is sent to japan to investigate claims that a senior priest there , father ferreira , has renounced his faith . what he finds is a small community of believers under intense pressure to cave .
officials then urged him to marry , or at least take a woman as his housekeeper . their intention was to take advantage of ferreira ' s psychological depression after his apostasy and , through this marriage , undercut his personality and self - esteem . the marriage helped cause adverse publicity , and the same strategy was later used against giuseppe chiara and his companions .
leira , arnlaug and chiara saraceno ( eds . ) , ¬ childhood : changing contexts . comparative social research , vol . 25 , bingley , uk , emerald 2008 .
rodrigues / chiara remained captive in japan . we do not know what he would have done if given his freedom . historical records attest that the chiara , who died forty years after his apostasy , declared himself always to be a christian , though a silent one , a hidden one . it is in his lowliness that he hears the voice of christ .
lubich , chiara ( 2012 )
paradise ’49 ,
claritas : journal of dialogue and culture : vol . 1 : no . 1 , article 3 . available at : urltoken
with m . olagnero and p . torrioni )
patterns of sociability in the enlarged eu
, in : jens alber , tony fahey and chiara saraceno ( eds . ) ,
as records show that chiara was cremated after his death at 84 , the unearthed remains are almost certain to be of sidotti , who was 47 when he died in 1714 , researchers said .
povertà e politiche contro la povertà in europa . le promesse e i limiti dell’agenda di lisbona
, in : annali della fondazione giuseppe di vittorio 2006 / , ediesse , roma , 2007 , pp . 79 - 102 .
there is an old memorial not far from the kirishitan - zaka . it has a pillar on the right side an old stone marker in the center with faint writing inscribed on it , and over the stone marker is a signboard erected by the local government with information which i have already written here . it mentions inoue masahige as well as giuseppe chiara and giovanni battista sidotti , and says that the place burned down in 1724 . there also a few other small stone memorials on the left .
a : yes , the novel is based on the life story of an italian figure called giuseppe chiara , who in the novel becomes the protagonist – the young portuguese jesuit rodrigues . rodrigues is sent to japan to help the local church and investigate reports that his mentor , the jesuit priest ferreira ( based on the historical figure of cristóvão ferreira ) has committed apostasy [ abandoned his faith ] – a fact which rodrigues finds impossible to believe . endō told me once that his inspirations for the novel were twofold :
chiara is the model for sebastiao rodrigues , a jesuit apostate in
chinmoku
( silence ) , a historical fiction by shusaku endo ( 1923 - 1996 ) . the novel has been made into a film of the same title by american director martin scorsese .
( with antonio schizzerotto ) , “dimensioni della disuguaglianza” , introduzione , in : andrea brandolini , chiara saraceno , antonio schizzerotto , dimensioni della disuguaglianza in italia : povertà , salute , abitazione , bologna : società editrice il mulino 2009 , pp . 9 - 35 .
patterns of family living in the enlarged eu
, in : jens alber , tony fahey and chiara saraceno ( eds . ) , handbook of quality of life in the enlarged european union , routledge , london , 2007 , pp . 47 - 72 .
the japanese writer shusaku endo wrote a best - selling novel based on the life of father chiara , silence , which is currently being turned into a film by director martin scorsese . it will star
spiderman
andrew garfield along with adam driver and liam neeson .
researchers from the national museum of nature and science pieced together the bone fragments and successfully extracted dna from a tooth . analysis revealed that the person was more than 170 centimeters tall , significantly taller than the 156 cm average height for a japanese man at that time . dna was found to match the genetic characteristics of modern italians . sidotti was reported to be 175 - 178 cm tall and he was one of only two italians held in the prison . the other , giuseppe chiara , was a much older man , 84 years old at time of death , and his remains were cremated .
the main character sebastiao rodrigues in the novel silence by shusaku endo was based on giuseppe chiara . in the novel rodrigues comes to japan in search of cristovao ferreira . the book has also been made into a japanese movie in 1971 , and more recently in 2016 directed by martin scorsese . the scorsese movie is well worth seeing . although it is based on a fictional work , it is faithful to historical details , including replicas of some of the fumi - e shown in the above photos . the story also features several real - life characters such as grand inquisitor inoue masashige and apostate missionary cristovao ferreira
( with marco albertini ) , „intergenerational contact and support : the long - term effects of marital instability in italy” , in : chiara saraceno ( hg . ) , families , ageing and social policy . intergenerational solidarity in european welfare states , elgar publishing , 2008 , pp . 194 - 216
we are here publishing a translation of chiara lubich’s talk about her mystical experiences that began in the summer of 1949 . 1 this talk was presented at oberiberg , switzerland , on the feast of st . paul , june 30 , 1961 . the article following this one , entitled “editorial essay : contextualizing ‘paradise ’49 , ’ ” is meant to place this talk in historical context and in the context of the development of lubich’s spirituality as well as to add explanatory comments about the text itself . here , we also present excerpts from the introduction to the original italian publication of this talk written by giuseppe m . zanghí , editor of nuova umanità .
endo ' s original novel , published in 1966 , is a work of historical fiction that draws upon the missionaries who came to 17th century japan during a time when japanese christians were being persecuted and priests were being hunted . that conflict features heavily in silence , which tells the story of two young priests , rodrigues and garrupe , who must hide from japanese authorities while spreading the word of god and searching the country for their mentor , ferreira . historically speaking , neither ferreira , rodrigues , nor garrupe existed , though the character of rodrigues is , in fact , based on the life of italian priest giuseppe chiara , who did missionary work in japan .
it’s no coincidence that endō wrote his novel in 1966 inspired by his country’s own history and the life of the italian jesuit giuseppe chiara , a generation removed from the sharp and forced end to japan’s own imperialist efforts . he’d converted to catholicism at age 10 for his mother and during wwii found himself a lonely practitioner of the religion of japan’s enemies—an outsider in his own country . later he moved to france seeking something closer to acceptance , only to find himself the target of european racism . his book , from this thornily conflicted japanese catholic perspective , reflects a much richer , and much more complicated interrogation into the collision of forces that converged upon and within japan , yielding universal questions from such a specific life .
in the film , ferreira challenges chiara / rodrigues :
don ' t you see that god remains silent while you ( and others ) suffer ?
after an excruciating struggle with his own conscience , he gives in to
fumi - e
- - the act of trampling on an image of christ or the virgin mary in renunciation of the christian faith .
they were later moved to the newly built kirishitan yashiki to live out their days in solitude . apparently they were the first missionaries to live there . nothing more is known of the fate of three of the men , but we know that chiara remained at the kirishitan yashiki until his death forty years later in 1685 . before he died , he stated that he was still a christian .
. the late afternoon procession , after the deposition in the cathedral , end in front of the church of san giuseppe , where the two images of our lady of sorrows and christ are brought before each other . in the evening , four hundred confraternity members , barefoot and hooded , from five confraternities form the religious procession that precedes the carriage bearing the veiled statue of the dead christ , in a ritual that has remained unchanged since the 16th . c .
francesco carraro had a truly visionary taste in art . polymathic in his interests — from italian glass and tiffany lamps to 20th - century works of art and modern furniture — carraro , with his wife chiara , focused their curiosity and connoisseurship on exceptional works of art and design . it was a decades - long creative journey that resulted in a deeply personal collection , one composed of only what he loved .
in 1950 , lino’s father , giuseppe saputo , and eldest brother , frank , immigrated to canada from their sicilian home . by moving to montréal , the family followed a well - established trend for italians immigrating to canada . two years later , lino came to join giuseppe and frank with his mother , maria , and five other siblings . at first , the 15 - year - old lino found the move difficult , and longed to return to sicily . however , by 1954 , his ambitions drove him to encourage his parents to return to cheese making , which had been the family business in sicily . he scraped together $ 500 in savings for equipment and a delivery bike to support his parents , who made cheese in a rented room in the delca cheese factory on rue de rouen . the business quickly benefited from steady demand from fellow italian immigrants , who longed for the products of home . by 1957 , the business expanded into a new factory in montréal’s saint - michel neighbourhood . the company further benefited from the increasing popularity of pizza during the 1960s , since it meant growing demand for mozzarella .
in order for apostasy to be genuine , it must be voluntary and not announced under duress . furthermore , father giuseppe chiara , the missionary priest on whom endo based father rodrigues , “died some forty years after his apostasy , stating that he was still a christian , ” as father william johnston notes in the preface to the new edition of silence . there is compelling , if inconclusive , textual evidence that ferreira likewise recovered his faith , ending his life “ courageously for christ . ” all of which underscores c . r . boxer’s important point , in the christian century in japan : 1549 - 1650 —namely , that “the majority , if not all of these spiritual outcasts , revoked their apostasy in the end and returned to the faith in the evening of their days . ” little wonder , then , that the catholic encyclopedia comments : “there is not in the whole history of the church a single people who can offer the admiration of the christian world annals as glorious , and a martyrology as lengthy , as those of the people of japan . ”
the course was supported by an unrestricted grant from bayer . the authors would like to thank qbgroup spa ( padua , italy ) for its organization and technical expertise in the setup of the course , and dr . selene mogavero ( primula multimedia srl , pisa , italy ) for help in drafting and revising the manuscript . the authors would also like to thank the following physicians for attending the course : albertini patrizia , avilia simona , barbar sofia , battisti laura , baudo francesco , boeri elio , bonetti elisa , brandolin barbara , caimi teresa maria , cantori isabella , carloni maria teresa , catalano alberto , ciabatta carlo , cimino ernesto , coluccia antonella , conca paolo , contino laura , coppola antonio , cultrera dorina , de gregorio angela , delios grazia , di gregorio patrizia , di perna caterina , dragani alfredo , ettore cosimo pietro , franchini massimo , gamba gabriella , giuffrida anna chiara , lapecorella mario , malcangi giuseppe , mancuso giacomo , margaglione maurizio , martinelli marco , mistretta claudia , molinari angelo claudio , mostarda giovanni , musso margaret , passeri walter , piseddu gavino , rivolta gianna franca , rodorigo giuseppina , rossetti gina , santoro rita , sartori maria teresa , sbrighi piero sandro , scarafile rita , scaraggi francesco antonio , schiavoni mario , siboni simona maria , spagnuolo pasquale , valeri federica , zanon ezio . their input and opinion were critical in generating the reported consensus .
the uk international center ( ukic ) leads internationalization efforts at the university of kentucky . the work of the ukic is supported by international advisory council , a group of globally - engaged faculty and administrators representing each of the university’s 16 colleges , plus other key academic units .
i truly believe that what universities are about : the production of knowledge - research and scholarship - cannot be contained by national borders . . . we are in a business that is by nature international .
- dr . sue roberts , associate provost for internationalization .
the story of fr . christovao ferreira , a character in the adapted movie silence by martin scorsese .
we thank fr . thomas onoda , a japanese priest of the society of saint pius x who provided us with this detailed life of father christovao ferreira . fr . onoda’s source is
the case of christovao ferreira
written by fr . walter cieslik , s . j and published in monumenta nipponica in 1974 .
christovão ferreira was born around the year 1580 , in the portuguese village of torres vedras in the archdiocese of lisbon .
ferreira entered the society of jesus in 1596 . after having done his two - year novitiate , he took his first vows at coimbra on december 25 , 1598 .
on april 4 , 1600 , 20 jesuits embarked at lisbon under the direction of fr . pedro de almeida . ferreira was one of the twenty , which include diogo carvalho , future missionary and martyr in japan . they reached goa successfully and on 1 may 1601 , those destined for china and japan sailed to macao .
in macao , the portuguese colonial center in east asia , the jesuits had the central seminary for missionaries destined to work in china and japan : the madre de deus college . ferreira continued his studies at macao . in 1608 he was ordained to the priesthood . on may 16 , 1609 , ferreira sailed for japan and reached nagasaki on 29 june . he was sent to the seminary at arima to learn the japanese language . he learned the language quickly , and already in 1614 , he understood the language well and his sermons in japanese were good .
in 1612 the local daimyo , arima harunobu , who had been one of the patrons of the mission , was banished from his domain and was condemned to death . so , in june 1612 , the seminary and most of the missionaries had to leave the region of arima and took refuge in nagasaki .
in the same year , ferreira was sent from nagasaki to kyoto , then the capital of japan , but in april or may 1612 the jesuits had to leave their residence , under pressure from the local authorities .
on christmas 1613 , the church in kyoto celebrated the liturgy peacefully , with the number of catholics living in the capital and its suburb which numbered 30 , 000 to 40 , 000 . but immediately after christmas , an edict of religious census was issued only for christians unexpectedly . on seeing this dangerous development , the faithful did the 40 - hours devotion , fasting , and other penances .
on february 12 , a government decree was issued ordering all priests , brothers and catechists to proceed to nagasaki and there await further instructions . some missionaries remained in the capital secretly . fr . balthasar de torres chose to remain in osaka , while fr . bento fernández and fr . ferreira stayed in kyoto .
the church and two cemetery chapels in kyoto were dismantled . 70 noble christians of kyoto and osaka were exiled to tsugaru on april 13 , while the nuns were told to go to nagasaki and thence into exile with the missionaries .
in october 1617 , fr . mattheus de couros was assigned as provincial . fr . ferreira , who had been asked to serve as his secretary , returned to nagasaki . fr . de couros , was handicapped by sickness , even at times completely paralyzed , so a great part of his work fell to his secretary . in december 1618 , fr . spinola , the province treasurer , was arrested , and ferreira had also to take over his work of treasurer .
in 1621 , the missionaries learned from the portuguese ambassador the reasons the shogun gave for the persecution . he imagined that catholic missionaries intend to rob him of his kingdom by the preaching of the gospel . this suspicion was constantly being attested by the protestant dutch . this was also supported by fabian , a former apostate jesuit brother , through his publication against the catholics .
a new nomination letter arrived from rome in 1621 , assigning fr . francisco pacheco as provincial . fr . ferreira replaced pacheco ' s mission at central japan . but on february 1625 , pacheco was arrested , and on june 20 , 1626 , he was burned at the stake along with eight other jesuits . fr . couros took over the administration of the province once again and recalled ferreira to act as his secretary until the death of couros in 1632 .
from 1627 to 1632 , ferreira compiled an account of the martyrdom of numerous christians in the region of takaku , and in the sulphur springs of unzen . he wrote a moving description of the torture suffered by the japanese jesuit antonio ishida and his companions , who despite inhuman torments could not be persuaded to apostatize . this was ferreira ' s last report on the martyrdoms .
after fr couros ' s death in 1632 , without the nomination of a successor , sebastião vieira , as the senior professed jesuit in japan , took over the administration of the province until his arrest in 1633 . following that , ferreira succeeded the post as locum tenens exercising authority until a new appointment of provincial .
one of the most violent phase of japan history against catholics took place from march 1633 to august 1634 , especially in nagasaki . the government started a systematic search for priests and faithful together with a new kind of torture , the “ ana - tsurushi , ” the pit . here is an account from a 1633 letter dispatched by a jesuit in the philippines .
they dug a pit some feet deep , and above it they erected a frame from which the body was hung up by the feet . to prevent the blood flowing into the head and causing death too quickly , they tied the body tightly with ropes and cords . the hands were tied behind the back , and the prisoner was lowered into the pit down to his belt or navel or even down to his knees and legs . the pit was then closed by two boards which were cut in such wise that they surrounded the body in the middle and let no light enter . in this fashion , they kept the man hanging upside down without food , poised between life and death and in doubt about the outcome , until the slowly rising blood pressure brought about complete exhaustion , or else hunger entirely sapped his physical strength . or until , worn out by the torment , loneliness and solitude , he finally succumbed to this deadly torture and renounced his faith while there was still life left in him . ”
this torture rendered clear thinking and genuine moral decision quite impossible within a short time . the officials were anxious to exert the maximum psychological effect on the christian faithful by publicizing the cases of these apostate priests .
both psychological and moral pressure was added to the physical torments , and , especially when dealing with women and girls , the officials strove to break the prisoners ' self - respect and reduce them to moral wrecks . apostate priests were then forced to live with women , usually widows of executed criminals .
the list of the priests and religious who died in the pit is long and impressive , with the japanese jesuit nicolas keian fukunaga was the first victim of this new torture . he suffered for three days before dying on july 1633 . during the two following months , 36 priests , religious , and lay people were martyred in the pit and gave their life to christ .
on october 18 , another outstanding group of arrested priests and religious were led to the pit at nishizaka , nagasaki , where the 26 martyrs had offered their lives by crucifixion in 1597 . the band included fr . ferreira , superior of the jesuit mission ; antonio de souza , the superior of the dominican friars ; julian nakaura , japanese jesuit priest ; the japanese brothers pedro and matteo , who had entered the society of jesus while lying in prison ; and francisco , who had become a dominican friar in the same circumstances . all seven died as martyrs except for ferreira .
after hanging in the pit for five painful hours , christovão ferreira gave in . he was pulled out of the pit and released from his bonds amid the exulting shouts of his persecutors , and the bitter tears of his own brethren . he was 53 years old at the time and had spent 37 years as a jesuit .
the disturbing news of ferreira ' s fall from grace arrived in macao . the jesuit visitor palmeiro and other jesuits in macao started to offer special prayers and penances for the conversion of their fallen brother . palmeiro died on 1635 , because of the many fasts and scourgings he undertook after receiving the news about fr . ferreira . most of the jesuits in macao wanted to go to japan and were ready to give their lives for ferreira so that he might reach the heights of martyrdom . ferreira was dismissed from the society of jesus on 1636 .
ferreira ' s apostasy under torture was the greatest success of japan’s anti - christian policy . apostatized priests served as living proof of the alleged evil of the forbidden religion . the government took advantage of this golden opportunity .
soon after his apostasy ferreira appears to have been summoned to edo ( today ' s tokyo ) for a short time and then returned to nagasaki , where he spent the rest of his life .
it seems that both ferreira and the woman , who was supposedly the japanese widow of a chinese merchant , objected to the plan initially , but the portuguese merchants who visited him in 1635 found the woman in his house . according to trustworthy testimony , ferreira never had any intercourse with the woman to whom he was married and he testified that he kept her only to help around the house .
ferreira never persecuted christians in any way , nor participated in other religious ceremony in any way . the city governor ordered a small house to be put at his disposal , where he could recover from the effects of torture . the house in which he lived was very poor and small .
the king of japan will give you nothing , for you have apostatized out of pure weakness ; and so far you have rendered no service , since you have betrayed neither the fathers nor the christians .
he was known as sawano chūan , wore japanese dress , lived in the japanese way , and received from the government a small annuity for his living expenses . as a japanese citizen he was obliged to belong to a family temple .
it is also sometimes asserted that ferreira was the inventor of efumi , the treading on sacred pictures as a sign of rejecting christianity . but this practice was not introduced by ferreira , for it was most certainly in use before his apostasy .
the portuguese and chinese merchants who had met ferreira in nagasaki reported that he regretted his apostasy , preserved the faith in his heart , secretly carried a rosary , recited the gospel over sick people , and never betrayed the hiding places of the persecuted missionaries and christians .
there were three specific attempts to contact ferreira and persuade him to renounce his apostasy . the first attempt was made by the italian jesuit marcello mastrilli ( 1603 - 1637 ) .
on october 18 , 1633 , after hanging in the pit for five painful hours , christovão ferreira denied his god . that same year , far away from asia and japan , when taking out the splendid decorations for the feast of the immaculate conception at naples , a heavy beam chanced to fall upon the head of a jesuit priest , fr . marcello mastrilli , then 30 years old . his father , the marquis san marzano , was a noble of nola , and his mother , a caracciolo , was also of the most illustrious italian blood . this intelligent , virtuous , pious priest , was carried away bleeding and unconscious . brain - fever and delirium succeeded . the doctor declared that his recovery was impossible . the provincial , father de sangro , came to visit and bid him farewell . fr mastrilli was then anointed . on this evening he heard a voice calling to him :
marcello ! marcello !
he saw st . francis xavier in a pilgrim ' s dress , radiant and beautiful , saying :
you are cured . kiss the wounds of your crucifix in thanksgiving ,
bidding him at the same time apply the relic of the true cross to his neck , and consecrate himself entirely to his lord , who had stained that cross with his blood , and beg the grace to shed the last drop of his own blood for his name .
the saint then disappeared , and father mastrilli found himself cured . he got up , went to inform his superior of the event , and said mass next morning in thanksgiving without pain .
when the terrible news of fr . ferreira ' s apostasy reached europe , mastrilli , inspired by the intercession of st . francis , petitioned to be sent to japan . when he went for permission the general replied :
you need scarcely ask me for leave when st . francis himself has given it to you .
fr . mastrilli hastened on to macao and manila , and finally reached satsuma in japan . the few timid christians from manila who had been examined by japanese officers , soon betrayed his coming . after a brief search , mastrilli was found praying in a thicket with his arms in the form of a cross , and much weakened by hunger . he said to them gently :
come , my children , and take me .
they then approached and bound his hands . gagged and chained hand and foot on horseback , fr . mastrilli , was carried through nagasaki , and plunged into the pit . there he remained alive for three days . the governor finding that after repeated inspections that fr . mastrilli was still living and refusing to apostatize , ordered him to be beheaded .
at the third stroke of the blade , when his head fell , the air was darkened and the earth shook , and rocked to and fro , so that all the spectators were appalled . they hacked his body to pieces , burnt and crushed it into dust , which they cast into the air and into the river , so that not a relic might remain .
fr . mastrilli ' s apostolate in japan was only to suffer and shed his blood , without preaching sermons , without baptizing converts , and without even offering masses in japan . but 16 years later , his sacrifice and that of other martyrs will obtained graces for japan ' s persecuted catholics .
the second attempt was made by the japanese jesuit blessed pedro kibe ( kasui ) .
pedro kibe walked to rome from goa , india , to become a jesuit . while at roman college in rome , he witnessed the death of his classmate st . john berchmans and that of st . robert bellarmine . he participated in rome in the canonizations of st . ignatius loyola and of st . francis xavier . with his superior’s permission , he left for japan in 1623 to save the souls of his countrymen . when he arrived at japan , he was already 43 year old . he worked in nagasaki at first , then kyoto , and sendai until being arrested .
condemned to death in the pit at edo in july 1639 , kibe addressed a fervent speech to ferreira on meeting with him in edo and admonished him to repent .
kibe endured the pit torture with two other jesuits : giovanni battista porro and martinho shikimi , who apostatized . the japanese official records read :
kibe pedro did not renounce . ” because he did not renounce the faith , he was beheaded .
in 1638 , after working in the indian mission , fr . antonio rubino was sent to macao at his own request and was nominated visitor in october 1639 . in 1642 , rubino set out to japan with a large group of missionaries , consisting of nine priests , one brother , and several catechists .
the expedition was divided into two groups in order to keep discretion . rubio left for japan with four priests on 1642 , while the second group , under the leadership of pedro márquez , set out in 1643 .
in august , rubino and his companions ' ship reached japan and they were immediately apprehended and brought to nagasaki . there they were closely interrogated , and then led to the prison at ōmura . on march 1643 , they were condemned to the pit torture and died . three of them , who survived the torment for nine days , were pulled out of the pit and beheaded .
rubino had composed an appeal to ferreira in latin and intended to send it to him upon his arrival in japan .
are you that christopher who , forgetting parents , relatives and friends , and despising the things of this world , took the vows of poverty , chastity , and obedience before the provincial , fr . christovão gouvea , in the college of coimbra on the feast of the blessed proto - martyr stephen in the year 1598 ? have you followed in the footsteps of such a great martyr only to deny christ , for whom that saint was stoned to death ?
are you that christopher who joyfully pronounced the four solemn vows before the provincial , fr . mattheus de couros , on october 1 , 1617 at nagasaki ? should you not have preserved this loyalty which was vowed to god and the society in the presence of so many witnesses ? should you not have remembered what we have so solemnly promised and to whom ?
are you that christopher to whom our society committed with great confidence the leadership of the whole japanese province and the duties of bishop on december 23 , 1632 ? have you administered it only that you may turn your back on christ and his order ? what a terrible change ! how you have degraded yourself ! i perish with tears and sighs when i think on this . ”
in nagasaki , marquez was subjected to water torture . there were several types of water torture in use including forcing the victim to swallow great amounts of water with a funnel and then beating his belly with bamboo rods . marquez managed to survive this torture .
by order of the government , all four priests were sent to edo on july 27 for inquisition . the prisoners reached edo on august 27 . there they were frequently questioned by the supreme court and even by the shogun , iemitsu , himself . ferreira was present as an interpreter at the trial . he was ordered to go to edo from nagasaki to be the interpreter for these proceedings .
the priests were condemned to the torture of the pit , where , according to the report of the inquisitor , they all apostatized . they were then allowed to live in japan under confinement in a “christian house” and given japanese names . ( the location of this infamous “christian house” ( kirishitan yashiki ) is near the sspx mass center in tokyo . )
though they had apostatized from the christian faith , yet declared publicly to the interpreters that they did not freely apostatize ; but the insufferable torments which had been inflicted upon them , had forced them to it . the council asked them at large concerning their opinions , and the power of god ; on which one answered faintly , but the rest were much more resolute .
the japan council not well experienced in the romish religion , wanted questions to ask them , and therefore called for syovan [ ferreira ] , the apostate priest , who was there ready for that purpose . so soon as he saw the jesuits , he looked very fiercely upon them , notwithstanding he had formerly been one of their order . ”
then follow reproaches to the missionaries for misleading the japanese people with their religion , accusations of bringing them under the spanish empire and of provoking the deaths of thousands of japanese . then , after a long theological discourse about the idols of the pagans and buddhism , montanus closes his account of the interrogation as follows :
to these blasphemous discourses the wisest of the jesuits said notwithstanding these words come from syovan , yet they ought to be reproved ; and i tell you , that we believe , that without god’s permission none can hurt one hair of our heads , neither is there salvation for the immortal soul without god ; and to forsake him , either for worldly ends , or cruel torments , must upon necessity be a great sin : meanwhile god denies not mercy to those , that in the last hour beg it , if they are penitent , and depend on their savior jesus christ .
it seemed as if the jesuit would have said more , but that the councellors sackay sammoccysama , and matsodairo ysosamma gave a sign that the four jesuits should be led from thence . afterwards the dutch heard that two of the jesuits had retracted their apostasy and had refused to join a buddhist sect . ”
in 1652 , news about ferreira reached the outside world . it was said that he had recanted and had been condemned to death in the pit as a result . fr . joseph franz schütte , s . j . ( 1906 - 1981 ) made a critical investigation about ferreira’s martyrdom using original european documents preserved in rome . he is inclined to believe that the substance the reports are trustworthy and he summarizes the various accounts of fr . ferreira’s death as follows :
fr . ferreira was already more than 80 years old , and for years had been confined to bed by sickness and weakness . a great change took place in his soul and his deed now appeared to him in a completely different light . he abhorred his action as a cowardly betrayal of god and expressed his inner convictions in a loud voice . his neighbors heard him talking and finally informed the soldiers of the governor . they visited the house of the sick tsūya and asked him the reason for his grief . the father explained to them with all frankness and firmness his sorrow and his inner conversion . the soldiers joked and made fun of him , saying that he was out of his mind , but he contradicted them firmly . on the contrary , he showed himself ready to die for his faith .
the soldiers then reported this to the governor , who hesitated for a while but , after he had ascertained the facts , condemned christovão to death in the pit . the sentence , however , was to be carried out in all secrecy so as to avoid causing excitement in the city . the soldiers returned to ferreira ' s house , and seeing that he remained constant in his intention , they dragged him off to the torture of the pit . however , they were not able to prevent many japanese , both christian and non - christian , as well as non - christian chinese , from attending the martyrdom . the soldiers bound ferreira and hanged him head downward into the pit . with this torture ferreira ended his life courageously for christ . ”
some scholars consider this second - hand account optimistic and remark that the martyrdom of fr . ferreira is reported neither in the dutch sources nor in the japanese records , although his name can be found in the death registers of the zen temples in nagasaki . this silence is not proof against martyrdom . the government would never have recognized a retraction of his apostasy and might well have tried to cover the matter up .
regardless of how fr . ferreira chose to leave the world , what should be central to this recollection are the heroic attempts of his fellow jesuits to save his soul when news of his apostasy spread throughout east asia and western europe . not content to see anyone lost , ferreira’s compatriots sought him as the lost sheep in the hopes of bringing him yet again into christ’s fold . although many japanese catholics and missionaries succumbed to apostasy after enduring unimaginable tortures , many more persevered in the faith through the prayers and sacrifices of fellow catholics . may their heroic witness , and the prayers they now offer before the throne of christ in heaven , sustain us today and preserve us from all temptations to renounce our lord .
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vox populi , vox dei is a daily column that runs on page 1 of the asahi shimbun .
a stone monument , so inconspicuous that passers - by can easily miss it , stands in a residential neighborhood of tokyo ' s bunkyo ward . its inscription reads :
kirishitan yashiki ato
( site of christian compound ) .
back when christianity was anathema to the tokugawa shogunate ( 1603 - 1867 ) , foreign catholic missionaries who renounced their faith under torture were brought to this compound to live in confinement .
i saw the movie recently . i gasped at the scenes of brutal torture of missionaries and believers .
his gravestone stands in a corner of a catholic church in chofu , a city in the west of the tokyo metropolis .
there is a small museum nearby run by gaetano compri , 86 , a salesian who came to japan more than 60 years ago .
vox populi , vox dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics , including culture , arts and social trends and developments . written by veteran asahi shimbun writers , the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary japan and its culture .
this page takes a closer look at wasabi ( japanese horseradish ) , a condiment originating in japan that has influenced food culture around the world .
the page features videos of variety of animals . you can view the videos as interactive images that allows you to pan and zoom in to them .
the asahi shimbun has recorded the entire picture of the tsukiji fish market before its relocation to the toyosu district , and also introduces a variety of sushi .
copyright © the asahi shimbun company . all rights reserved . no reproduction or republication without written permission .
shusaku endo’s masterpiece , the film adaptation of which will soon be in theaters , can be by turns profoundly moving , disturbing , and challenging . here are some points to bear in mind while reading the novel .
in a few weeks , martin scorsese’s long - awaited adaptation of the novel silence will go into wide release . scorsese’s interest in the story of 17th - century jesuit missionaries in japan goes back decades , and the questions it raises for him are spiritual ones : “endo’s novel confronts the mystery of christian faith , and by extension the mystery of faith itself , ” scorsese wrote in an essay contributed to a volume of silence criticism . trailers hint at a compelling film , and it will undoubtedly inspire many to tackle shusaku endo’s novel for the first time . what will they find ?
silence is the story of a young portuguese priest named sebastian rodrigues who travels to japan from macao to confirm the impossible news that his mentor , father christovao ferreira , has apostasized .
rodrigues arrives in japan , his trusting faith nourished by the memory of a treasured face of christ , full of “vigor and strength , ” an image that expresses the certainty of god’s presence in his mission .
but events quickly turn . rodrigues is disturbed by the simplistic faith he finds among peasant converts and stunned by the brutality of suffering they endure when discovered by their persecutors . as he attempts to make his way to nagasaki , avoiding the authorities , alternately guided and betrayed by a judas - like figure named kichijiro , his questions mount , and where once he had found certainty , he increasingly hears only silence .
god’s silence continues when rodrigues is captured . he can hear nothing but his own crashing spirit and the cries of his suffering fellow prisoners , cries he is assured he can bring a stop to by a simple external act , one that he discovers beyond doubt his mentor had , indeed taken : he can apostasize by trampling on a fumie , an image of christ , no longer serenely triumphant , but “ugly…worn down and hollow . ”
silence is not lengthy , but it is intense , sometimes disturbing , and coursing with painful mysteries , powerful questions , and paradox . i’ve taught this novel in high school theology classes and led adult education sessions on it , so i know both how fruitful the book is as a source for discussion but also how challenging it is not to interpret it in a reductionist way , in one direction or the other . so i’m offering a few suggestions to help new readers out .


do n't torture a duckling ( italian : non si sevizia un paperino ) is a 1972 italian giallo film directed by lucio fulci , starring florinda bolkan , tomas milian and barbara bouchet .

it is significant within fulci 's filmography as it is one of the first in which he began using violent gore effects , something he would continue to do in his later films , most notably zombi 2 , the beyond and city of the living dead .

the soundtrack was composed by riz ortolani and features vocals by ornella vanoni .

don ' t torture a duckling

don ' t torture a duckling - wikipedia . don ' t torture a duckling ( italian : non si sevizia un paperino ) is a 1 .
don ' t torture a duckling is a 1972 giallo film directed by lucio fulci .
don ' t torture a duckling ( lucio fulci , 1972 ) rating : 4 / 5 reviewed by dave lancaster summary : fulci ' s most assured thriller , the beguiling don ' t torture a duckling is a giallo masterwork .
don’t torture a duckling – aka non si sevizia un paperino – is a 1972 italian giallo film directed by lucio fulci .
cruel , beautiful and all the colours in between , don ' t torture a duckling is a compelling and beguiling work from a greatly underrated filmmaker .
that was me . . . and i might have spoken too fast . i mismatched don ' t torture a duckling with amuck ! .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing don ' t torture a duckling - giallo fest near you .
taking place in a rural italian village , don ' t torture a duckling is thankfully not about dead baby ducks . it is however about a recent string of murders all involving young boys .
don ' t torture a duckling is also a stinging attack on the italian establishment which allegedly resulted in lucio fulci being blacklisted for many years . a strong story full of challenging moral concepts , don ' t torture a duckling is as brutal and disturbing as lucio fulci ' s horror films , but it ' s also his most powerful and morally focussed work , and a magnificent high point in his long and distinguished career .
from lucio fulci , the godfather of gore ( the psychic , the beyond ) , comes one of the most powerful and unsettling giallo thrillers ever produced : his 1972 masterpiece don t torture a duckling .
when done correctly , giallos have two components – a horror - thriller component and a mystery component . lucio fulci ' s don ' t torture a duckling has neither . however , despite its failed attempts to muster the trappings of giallo , it is not bereft of intrigue . rather than gory shocks and heart - stopping suspense , don ' t torture a duckling is a brilliantly complex social commentary on the effects of mob mentality on a small town and the arrogance of modern thinking .
market - based title : while non si sevizia un paperino does translate from italian to don ' t torture a duckling it has a double meaning in that donald duck is called paperino in italy and a mutilated donald toy plays a key role in the mystery , so
don ' t torture donald duck
might be a more accurate translation but for obvious reasons would never be used so a more literal translation had to do even if there are no duckings to be found .
a soundtrack cd was released on point records ( prcd113 ) . this release is now deleted . it featured the scores for dont torture a duckling and battle of the amazons , both composed by riz ortolani . 12 tracks from duckling were featured .
yahoo ! - abc news network . title : don ' t torture a duckling ( 1972 ) 7 . 2 / 10 . want to share imdb ' s rating on your own site ? all lyrics displayed by urltoken are property of their respective owners .
you don ' t want them to kill the blind man and take his money , but at the same time you don ' t want him to kill them . you basically know how events are going to play out , but you don ' t know how it ' s going to end , because you don ' t know how you want it to end .
“while many italian murder mysteries ( or gialli ) involve black - gloved killers stalking women in the big city , lucio fulci’s don’t torture a duckling turns the formula completely inside out to produce a violent , sweltering masterpiece of regional and religious oppression . don’t expect to see any shuffling zombies or gory power drills in this one , folks . ” nathaniel thompson , mondo digital
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the standard missteps that i associate with fulci still remain , but because don ' t torture a duckling is overall nicer to look at , i don ' t mind them as much . there are these pieces of scenes that don ' t seem to fit for example , or random shots of a character doing something really unimportant in the grand scheme of things . but compared to later efforts , the film is actually cohesive . which thrills me ! plot , yes !
great review ! duckling is fulci ' s best by a long shot imho . . .
don’t torture a duckling is out now on blu - ray in the uk , released by arrow video . the picture quality is a little soft , but this is likely a source material issue as it’s a clean and sturdy print otherwise . audio is solid too ( i watched the italian language version in case anyone’s interested ) .
i think that is what i ' d probably be doing ! i don ' t really mind as i don ' t watch tv that much . . . in fact . . . i rarely watch tv .
in summary , don ' t torture a duckling is a unique film . it is a classic giallo by even the strictest of definitions and yet it looks and feels like no other film in the genre . it ' s a film that can ( and should ) be studied by anyone with a deep appreciation for the art of the cinema , giallo or otherwise .
another great release from arrow , and the blu - ray transfer is very nice , and if you are a fan of italian genre films , then ' don ' t torture a duckling ' is a must for your collection , and i must say the violence and screenplay wont be for everyone , but for me i really enjoyed it .
as is often the case with italian horror , the plot on paper is rather simple . as the movie trudges onward however , simple turns into complex and complex into mass confusion . don ' t torture a duckling fits with this as it was very easy to get lost amongst the several boys who all look alike , or the 20 suspects being hunted . on the plus side however , don ' t torture a duckling is as those who suggested it me , a vast departure from fulci ' s later films . this is a gigantic plus for me , as i found much more to like in this . it was stylish , beautiful at times and most importantly , insanely jazzy .
before establishing himself as the godfather of the italian zombie film , lucio fulci created three authentic gialli during the genre ' s rise to popularity and don ' t torture a duckling is widely considered to be the best of the three . the film is gripping , heartfelt , violent , controversial , and beautiful all at the same time .
it ' s been years since i ' ve seen don ' t torture a duckling . all i reemember about it is the chain scene , the ending , and tomas milian ' s rockin ' 70 ' s porn ' stache . have you seen fulci ' s lizard in a woman ' s skin yet ? that movie is the definition of groovy !
when fans of the giallo genre talk about their favorites , lucio fulci ' s don ' t torture a duckling is mysteriously left out of the conversations . not because it ' s a bad film , but because it tends to stick out as more than just a mere giallo . it ' s actually quite a thought - provoking film with a lot of style and substance to it . there are moments of light silliness that don ' t hold up very well , but overall , the film is probably the best that fulci ever made - and he made some really great classic genre films . for a change , i found the conclusion to be satisfying . usually the ending reveal doesn ' t match up to the rest of the film , but this one is pretty unique and quite interesting . i ' d recommend this film to those interested in seeing something different for a change . don ' t torture a duckling is definitely different and leaves you pondering .
i must say i guessed the culprit very early on , but only due to knowing what kind of person it usually is in a film like this . knowing ( or at least strongly predicting ) the killer didn’t detract from watching the film though . too much fuss is made of ‘spoilers’ these days , but more importantly , what separates don’t torture a duckling from many other giallo , is that it’s doing a lot more than just unravelling a mystery .
deemed shocking at the time for its brutal violence , depiction of the catholic church and themes of child murder and paedophilia , don t torture a duckling is widely regarded today as fulci ' s greatest film , rivalling the best of his close rival dario argento . arrow video is proud to present this uniquely chilling film in its uk high definition debut .
don’t torture a duckling ( 1972 ) dir lucio fulci w / tomas millian , barbara bouchet , florinda bolkan , irene papas , marc porel [ 102 min ; dcp ] a child - killer haunts a small italian town in this amazingly titled giallo from legendary gore - maestro lucio fulci . a reporter ( millian ) arrives when word gets out about a missing boy and quickly becomes ensnared as both a suspect in and an investigator of the subsequent murder .
because there ' s nary a franchise villain in sight . and don ' t let the title fool you into dismissing it as a nostalgic throwback to prohibitive shockers of the
accendura is a town in a harsh landscape . despite the picturesque curves of its winding streets or the lushness of the woods that surround it , accendura is built on rock , dust , and the mountains that protrude from the earth like great bared teeth . and in lucio fulci’s 1972 film don’t torture a duckling , its residents are furious . a young boy has been kidnapped and the townsfolk are in search of vengeance .
don ' t torture a duckling is a mixed - bag . it ' s a completely fails at its obvious , stated mission – to be a successful giallo – but , simultaneously , it is interesting and intriguing if you are watching for more than just the mystery . while it is certainly not fulci ' s greatest horror movie , i could say that it is one of his finer films . it is a subtle , but important , distinction .
the relevance of the hidden extends well beyond the plot and characters to the film itself . don’t torture a duckling only received very limited distribution upon its release due its portrayal of the catholic church . the reputation of fulci’s previous work couldn’t have been helpful . he had to prove to an italian court that a scene in one of his prior films , a lizard in a woman’s skin , was actually a special effect and not animal cruelty . for all his reputation as a gore director , this film doesn’t feature great amounts of violence , but what it does show is remarkably effective . there are two bloody on - screen deaths , and the difference in the way that they’re handled says a lot for fulci’s skill as a filmmaker . the climactic death of the killer is gory , over - the - top and ridiculous , so much so that the fact that i can’t post screenshots of it without spoiling the film has me foaming at the mouth with disappointment . ( it’s one we’ve seen a thousand times , but never in a way as absurd as this . don’t torture a duckling worth seeing for it alone . )
luckily for us all , don ' t torture a duckling does work in a normal dvd player . but of course this means , no fancy screenshots . well , we can ' t have it all . after my last fulci review , i was ready to give up completely on the man who so many others loved without apology . after the suggestion to watch some of the earlier giallos however , i decided to give him one last try - - and so here it is .
“ don’t torture a duckling is a genuine one off in italian cinema . it looks great , sounds great and embraces a clutch of prickly off - the - wall subjects . its coherence rarely veers into the pedantic ( with maybe a couple of scenes too many depicting the police search for the killer ) and its idiosyncrasies stay in the mind well after attempts at giallo thrills have receded into a distant glue of confused titles . ” stephen thrower , beyond terror : the films of lucio fulci
fulci at his best . good characters and a strong story . the print looks lovely . a lot of people don ' t get this great man . they should watch this . highly recommended .
' i don ' t like dealines – when it ' s finished , it ' s finished ' … haruki murakami . photograph : murdo macleod for the guardian
“from the startling opening shot of the film to it’s tense conclusion the movie works wonderfully . don’t torture is a true anomaly in euroshock cinema , using the common tools of the trade yet applying them completely differently . one thing remains though , you won’t be disappointed if you are looking for something unique ( and yes my ghoulie pals…it’s got gore to spare ) . ” dvd drive - in
irene papas plays aurelia , mother to the village priest don alberto . barbara bouchet looks on .
[ duckling ] doesn ' t hit the surreal heights of later films such as city of the living dead or the beyond , but it ' s one of the best entries in the director ' s early filmography .
don alberto ' s belief that by killing children , he ' s saving them from becoming increasingly lustful .
i write anime reviews . they ' re good for your health ! my most recent review : 801 t . t . s . airbats ! coming up next :
murakami doesn ' t read many of his japanese contemporaries . does he feel detached from his home scene ?
it ' s a touchy topic ,
he says , chuckling .
i ' m a kind of outcast of the japanese literary world . i have my own readers … but critics , writers , many of them don ' t like me .
why is that ?
i have no idea ! i have been writing for 35 years and from the beginning up to now the situation ' s almost the same . i ' m kind of an ugly duckling . always the duckling , never the swan .
i don ' t see everything . obviously skipping quija and some other shit ones . but stuff i want to see ( haunted house movies ) are so rare that if one looks just a little different , i ' m giving it a shot .
avatar : t . o . the jardine ' s parrot . 13 years old .
i don ' t do this very often but because it ' s monday , i think i will . the silence of the lambs is the fucking bees knees . i mean it . . .
fair warning : any post may contain spoilers , may be nsfw , and may be nsfl . please don ' t forget to click on the ads ! it will help me delude myself that i ' m a professional blogger !
the other bloody death is played very differently . it’s the brutal beating of a suspect that we know is innocent . it doesn’t drip with blood , but it hurts . looking at it you know it’s painful , vicious , and completely unnecessary . it sticks with you . one of the policemen comments to martelli that he doesn’t see any guilt in the eyes of the townspeople that he knows are responsible for the savage crime . this is the harsh landscape that don’t torture a duckling is set in , one that’s in the minds of the town’s inhabitants , lynch mobs and child - killers alike . this is a film where the horror is as much in the motive as it is in the act , and that puts it several notches above similar entries in the 1970’s thriller canon .
thanks . . . . . gonna have a look at my local radio shack ( the source in canada ) . i really would like to go the antenna route as i don ' t watch a lot of tv and the cable charges are killing ( $ 85 a month ) .
thanks . . . . . gonna have a look at my local radio shack ( the source in canada ) . i really would like to go the antenna route as i don ' t watch a lot of tv and the cable charges are killing ( $ 85 a month ) . john
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that makes me feel weird . hopefully i wasn ' t alone in feeling creeped out .
dona aurelia knows that her son is the killer , but she really can ' t be considered an accomplice because she didn ' t facilitate or participate in any of the murders .
trange things happen in this world ,
haruki murakami says .
you don ' t know why , but they happen .
it could be a guiding motto for all of his fiction , but he is talking specifically about a minor character in his new novel ,
don ' t breathe isn ' t a full - blooded horror movie ,
he explains ,
but has elements . what originally attracted me to horror movies when i was first watching them as a teenager is that . . . there was always this element of transgression that would shock you , that you couldn ' t believe you were watching and you would tell people about it . with this film , we really wanted to try to go there .
don’t torture a duckling ( 1972 ) lucio fulci , an italian jack - of - all - genres best known for the primo gorefests he made in the late ’70s and early ’80s , never garnered the kind of acclaim lavished upon his contemporaries , dario argento and mario bava . that’s for good reason : fulci’s worst films hit an unholy sweet spot between vile and incompetent . but when he was on , as in the living - dead classic zombie or the grand guignol opus the beyond , fulci was really on . his outrageous bad taste often eclipsed his inventiveness , but the two were not mutually exclusive .
the italian genre movie writer / director lucio fulci is probably best known for his ultra - gory horror movies , such as zombie flesh eaters ( a . k . a . zombie ) , the beyond and city of the living dead , so he’s often considered a rather trashy director by more mainstream critics . however , he actually wrote and directed a range of material over his long and prolific career ( largely earlier on in it ) , including a number of comedies . his most well respected films touch on the horror genre , but fall more accurately into that of the giallo ( italian murder mystery thrillers , basically ) . the most acclaimed of these , and the one fulci named as his personal favourite , is 1972’s don’t torture a duckling , which arrow video have brought out on blu - ray in the uk .
i could do that i suppose , but what about the wire ? i can ' t drill a hole in the sliding door frame .
don’t torture a duckling , one of the director’s favorite of his own films , is comparatively restrained and fulfills the basic requirements of the then - young giallo genre : there’s an intrepid investigator , a rampaging psychopath , extreme close - ups of eyeballs , and murder scenes staged from the pov of the killer . but the film also incorporates less common elements , setting the usual mayhem against a vibrantly realized small - town backdrop , and infusing the proceedings with a sense of moral outrage . here the detective figure is a reporter ( tomas milian ) , part of the media circus that rolls into a sleepy italian village when a young boy goes missing . the kid eventually turns up dead , kicking off a string of grisly slayings , and prompting milian to join forces with a sultry big - city transplant ( barbara bouchet ) to catch the culprit . as in any good whodunit , there are scores of suspects—the village “simpleton , ” a gypsy outcast with a penchant for voodoo dolls—and as many red herrings as dead bodies .
my biggest complaint with films like city of the living dead and the beyond was that the gore and the death scenes didn ' t make me care . and now i care . isn ' t it nice ?
what would he still like to achieve for himself , as a writer ?
honestly , i don ' t have any idea ,
he replies .
scott fitzgerald was my idol when i was young . but he died when he was 40 - something . i love truman capote , but he died at 50 - something . and dostoyevsky is my ideal writer , but he died at 59 . i ' m 65 right now . i don ' t know what ' s going to happen ! so i have no role model . i have no idea – when i am 80 years old , what will i write ? i don ' t know . maybe i ' m running and writing …
that would be great . but nobody knows .
so as you may have guessed i came away feeling much better about my lucio fulci relationship . it is now very clear to me that i love the old fulci , and i hope to continue to look at some older giallos . don ' t torture a duckling is ripe with intrigue , a mystery that at times seems a bit obvious , and also a bit too dense in its possible suspects . it gets to the point , where we can only assume anyone that they have guessed to be the killer is not the killer . so it really just becomes a game of , well who haven ' t they accused yet ? that being said , i did tend to get pulled into the mystery . i had a hunch ( and a right one ) i should add early on , but like most good murder mysteries the real intrigue is often the why , and not the who . although the why is a little well , stupid in my opinion , that final confrontation , and that dummy is worth it all .
i reserve the right to post as a member . when i post as a moderator i will select a
that wasn ' t meant as a k . o . though , he specifically targeted an area of the cerebellum which , if ruptured , renders you a jehovah ' s witness indefinitely
all signs point to it being keanu reeves ' big comeback . although with it being rated r , and i don ' t think many believe he can spring back with something good again , could very well spell it ' s quick downfall at cinemas .
don alberto is a very conservative priest . he eventually turns out to be the killer . unusually , his delusion doesn ' t involve punishing the boys for supposedly having lustful thoughts ; he feels that by killing them before puberty can corrupt them , he is actually saving their souls from damnation .
this social commentary gives the film added weight that many similar films don’t have . it’s a grim watch as you might expect from the subject matter , but fulci crafts a film that’s gripping and remarkably controlled when you consider he’s famous for gore - drenched zombie films . yes there are a few dated effects here and there and the central mystery isn’t difficult to solve , but it’s a fine piece of work and i might go as far to say it’s one of , if not the best giallo i’ve ever seen .
don’t torture a duckling is set in the rural italian town of accendura ( which is fictional as far as i know ) where young boys are being killed off one by one . after the first murder , a local ‘simpleton’ known as barra ( vito passeri ) is arrested and thought to be the killer after he is caught trying to ask for a ransom from the boy’s parents , pretending he is alive and hiding the body . the police aren’t too sure he’s the right man though , despite this evidence , and after the second child is killed they know for certain they’re barking up the wrong tree . from then on a couple of oddball characters are suspected , including a local ‘witch’ , maciara ( florinda bolkan ) , and a young attractive woman , patrizia ( barbara bouchet ) , who is believed to have moved here to recover from a drug problem . whilst the police struggle to find the culprit , a journalist from the city , andrea martelli ( tomas milian ) , makes his own investigation . as each new suspect is made public , the locals react in vicious outrage before the truth eventually comes out .
but i think , in a sense , we are playing different games ,
he continues .
i began to think that way . it ' s very similar , but the rules are different . the equipment ' s different , and the fields are different . like tennis and squash .
does he think he ' d be accepted if he won the nobel prize , as many people now expect will happen ?
uh , i don ' t want to speculate ,
he says , and laughs .
that ' s a very risky topic . maybe i would be hanged from a lamppost , i don ' t know !
i don ' t know ,
murakami says .
i have many similarities to [ tsukuru ] . i see myself as a kind of ordinary guy . i don ' t think of myself as an artist , mostly . i guess i ' m just engineering something .
a builder , like tsukuru ?
yeah , right !
he chuckles .
i like to write . i like to choose the right word , i like to write the right sentence . it ' s just like gardening or something . you put the seed into the soil at the right time , in the right place .
best fulci ! best giallo ! very nice transfer . i could never understand why this film isn’t better known . . .
the only worthwhile horror movies i ' ve found this year so far are oculus and the sacrament . maybe horns will be good , though alexandre aja isn ' t my favorite director , and that isn ' t even full - on horror anyway .
session : inspired by spaghetti westerns , week 4 movie : the hunting party ( 1971 ) directed by don medford as always , there may be spoile . . .
1 : murders . it’s just not giallo if someone isn’t getting knocked off . the central premise is always someone’s killing people .
a reporter and a promiscuous young woman try to solve a series of child killings in a remote southern italian town that ' s rife with superstition and distrust of outsiders .
the evil dead reboot , which alvarez wrote with rodo sayagues ( his longtime collaborator , from panic attack ! to don ' t breathe ) , opened to mixed critical reception , but performed well and paved the way for a second project with raimi ' s ghost house , originally announced as a man in the dark . he and sayagues set to work on a thriller that would toy with conventions while remaining within genre parameters .
italian thrillers are a hard breed of film for most americans to figure it would seem . they are by nature very strange and very dark and often deal with issues that american films rarely touch upon and more often than not are more about style and suspense than about logic . but i hope more people give dont torture a duckling a try if they can find it to rent , as its a very well done suspense film . as much as i love this film it is not my favorite among this directors works but it is easily his best work . beautifully crafted , well acted , with a fairly grim conclusion , this is a thriller that shows without a doubt what kind of talent fulci had when he wanted to use it . if only he had used it more often .
@ stainedclass you mean on the film industry ? sure ? i dunno , i don ' t follow the industry closely enough to know . i was just thinking in terms of critical reception , or . . . people thinking that it was something other than mediocre . that would be weird to me .
strangers searching for a young woman ' s missing father arrive at a tropical island where a doctor desperately searches for the cause and cure of a recent epidemic of the undead .
i really didn ' t want to make up my mind about who [ should play ] the blind man while i was writing—i try not to do that in general . i don ' t want to fall in love with an actor , because the reality is that maybe the actor you want to go after is not available , and you feel as though you ' re fucked because you convinced yourself that that ' s the guy .
the pacing of the film is unique in that the amateur detectives don ' t really get started looking for the killer until the murders have ended and most of the suspects have been absolved . the police force , who dominate the first two thirds of the film , are completely absent in the final act .
. but if your thing is haunted house movies , i suppose that ' s more your thing . i don ' t think haunted house movies are rare these days - - ghosts and haunting movies are all the rage these days with stuff like paranormal activity and movies based on the bullshit of the warrens .
don’t torture a duckling pretty much starts at it’s seediest , with a series of shenanigans involving prostitutes , the mentally handicapped , and underage boys . apparently the ingredients to a great friday night in rural italy . some men go up to a remote shack in the mountains to , well , shack up with some local prostitutes . some kids named bruno , michele , and tonino and a handicapped man from the same village are well aware of this location and creep up to watch the proceedings . the kids catch the handicapped man and taunt him . tonino then gets a scene where a nude sunbathing woman new to the village tries to seduce him , before they’re interrupted . it seems like a cruel mind game more than anything , but you can see what i mean about the seedy beginning . the plot kicks into gear when bruno gets kidnapped . he goes missing and his family gets ransom calls . eventually the police find bruno dead and arrest the blackmailer , who’s the same simpleton from the film’s opening . however it becomes clear that the man found bruno dead and decided to try to earn some money and bury the corpse . he’s not responsible for the murder .
that antenna should do ok . or a good set of rabbit - ears . if you can , while you are watching tv just place the indoor antenna on your balcony for even better reception . . . when done bring back inside . that ' s if you don ' t mind this sort of set up . i had to resort to this a few times as reception was pretty choppy during the
big game
a few times .
a series of murders are committed near the estate of a degenerate author and his wife .
the grand duel ( a . k . a . - the big showdown ) - trailer
that seems like a tall order , given that today ' s audience has seen a lot , and alvarez agrees .
i ' ll never forget , i was reading this book about masters of horror before going to bed , and a journalist was asking john carpenter how , in this time when we ' ve seen everything and everything has been done , he was going to continue to shock audiences . and as i ' m reading his answer i ' m thinking , ' wait a minute , what year is this ? ' the interview was from 1985 . . . somebody in 1985 was asking how he was going to shock people . we know now that in 1985 everything hadn ' t been done and we hadn ' t seen it all . torture porn didn ' t even exist . . . there ' s always more to do .
the director is clearly damning the attitudes of those who shelter themselves in tradition and old - fashioned values , mistrusting or downright hating anyone who doesn’t fit their mould . the motives of the killer reflect this too although i won’t discuss this in too much detail for obvious reasons .
a new england home is terrorized by a series of murders , unbeknownst to the guests that a gruesome secret is hiding in the basement .
there are a few things necessary for a film to qualify as a giallo movie . i’m going to rank them in order of importance .
usually by the time you get into production ,
he continues ,
you get a list from producers and agents with about 20 names of who is in the budget range , who would do this [ movie / part ] , who read the script and liked it . . . i don ' t know who compiles them , but you get them .
gialli that deal with the death of children are never considered light - hearted , but duckling goes even further by introducing subtexts that criticize the superstitious mob - mentality of the lower class and vilify the catholic church . and although fulci abandons the slick , modern visual style of his previous two gialli , duckling is still very stylish and well photographed . oh , and let ' s not forget the inclusion of barbara bouchet as the image of modern beauty among the jagged rocks ( and faces ) of accendura .
why that pianist can see the colours of people , i don ' t know ,
murakami muses .
it just happens .
novels in general , he thinks , benefit from a certain mystery .
if the very important secret is not solved , then readers will be frustrated . that is not what i want . but if a certain kind of secret stays secret , it ' s a very sound curiosity . i think readers need it .
i don ' t see everything . obviously skipping quija and some other shit ones . but stuff i want to see ( haunted house movies ) are so rare that if one looks just a little different , i ' m giving it a shot . also , just looked up harbinger down . sounds more sci - fi than horror to me ala virus , leviathan , the thing - movies where a crew of people get picked off by monsters . not really my thing .
the last truly great wes craven film was new nightmare in 1994 . scream has lost most of it ' s charm and i wouldn ' t rate it too highly now . shocker is a very decent horror / thriller film with an interesting spin on a serial killer that turns into electricity ( sounds silly in writing but visually not ) , this results in really fun scenes that don ' t give a shit with peter berg and mitch pileggi jumping through television sets across the us . there is a true stroke creativity in craven ' s writing and directing that is almost entirely absent later on in his career . in my opinion this would have been a worthy follow up franchise to a nightmare on elm street had wes craven been given the green - light .
audiences are usually very harsh to judge the characters—what they do or don ' t do ,
he observes .
they ' re like , ' i would never do that ! ' but what i think i ' m seeing is that the characters somehow echo what the audience thinks they would do in the situation . there ' s not a lot of moments where you go , ' come on ! don ' t do that ! you would never do that in real life ! ' we didn ' t want those moments , which you usually discover when you watch with an audience . there are moments—like one where someone is running away and they stop for a second to look over their shoulder . but i think that makes sense : someone is chasing you , you ' ve been running for a while , you want to see if they ' re still there . but even there , they ' re like ' keep running ! '
lizard in woman ' s skin is next on the list chris . yes ! groovy movies are definitely the best thing ever . can ' t wait . emily - i feel sometimes like i ' m the only person who didn ' t totally love the beyond . maybe i ' ll have to give it a second chance . sigh .
5 : women . this ties into number three . the lurid adult tone of the genre means gore and occasional tame nudity abound . adult in a “you can’t show this to kids way . ”
suspects are a plenty as police and a reporter search in vain for the man or woman responsible .
iacob lives in a small village in the carpathian mountains near a gold mine and tries to survive .
ronin . noun , historical . a samurai who no longer serves a daimyo , or feudal lord .
so cool to get a fulci film in the arrow pipeline . kinda surprised people haven ' t seen it as its been streaming forever ( along with some fulci spaghetti westerns ) on amazon prime . i prefer lizard in a woman ' s skin as the better fulci giallo but this is a good one .
a clairvoyant woman discovers a skeleton in a wall in her husband ' s house , and seeks to find the truth about what happened to the victim .
alvarez already had transgression in mind when he made el cojonudo , but saw that film as
more of a comedy ; we were going for more of the absurd sensibility , like jean - pierre jeunet . . . that obsession with bizarre characters and warped sensibility that ' s done so well in delicatessen and city of lost children .
not so with don ' t breathe —the filmmaker likes a fun horror comedy or lighthearted thriller movie as much as the next person , but warns ,
i won ' t tell you what it is , but there ' s something in this . . . oh , man .
yeah i actually watched it for the first time just a few years ago - i wasn ' t impressed in the least . aside from some occasional great spielbergian moments , it was just really tame and pretty dull .
murakami ' s style is simple , even apparently casual , on the surface , and tsukuru tazaki , like many of his previous novels , has divided critics into those who find it banal and those who perceive greater depth in its vividness and precision of imagery . like most simple styles , of course , his is the result of lots of hard work .
i take time to rewrite ,
he explains .
rewriting is my favourite part of writing . the first time is a kind of torture , sometimes . raymond carver [ whose work murakami has translated into japanese ] said the same thing . i met him and i talked with him in 1983 or 84 , and he said : ' the first draft is kind of torture , but when you rewrite it ' s getting better , so you are happy , it ' s getting better and better and better . '
there is never a deadline for a murakami novel –
i don ' t like deadlines …when it ' s finished , it ' s finished . but before then , it is not finished .
sometimes he can ' t tell when he should stop rewriting , but
my wife knows . yes . sometimes she decides : ' you should be finished here . '
he smiles and imitates his own obedient response :
' ok ! '
^ i doubt it made much impact on the film industry but most people i know who say they ' re liam neeson
fans
really mean that they like taken because they have to think about another film he was in . between that and the fact that it ' s already been parodied and given a sequel , i ' d say popular reaction was very good . i don ' t know or really care what the critics thought .
a burned - out new york police detective teams up with a college psychoanalyst to track down a vicious serial killer randomly stalking and killing various young women around the city .
a reporter and a psychic race to close the gates of hell after the suicide of a clergyman caused them to open , allowing the dead to rise from their graves .
the original poltergeist is crazy overrated . i loved it as a kid but it ' s pretty cute and not all that creepy as an adult . there are some genuinely great parts but i ' m not totally attached to it . the reboot was produced by sam raimi and stars sam rockwell . i ' m at least interested . beggars can ' t be choosers in the horror movie market . i don ' t really care about the origin stories behind the conjuring . they spawn decent movies with an unsettling tone . the better they do at the box office , the more will get made . these movies aren ' t perfect and i ' ll be the first to announce when james wan has been beaten at creating a ' haunted house ' atmosphere . also - the amityville horror was fabricated by the lutz family that lived there . not the warrens .
also , i don ' t see how anyone can like those ghost movies based on ed and lorraine warren . those people are bonafide charlatans and utterly full of shit . maybe they felt they were genuine or really believed the crap they spewed , but they sold the ideas behind annabelle , the conjuring , and the amityville horror , and all of it is just so much bullshit . the reality behind the movies just destroys the movies . they ' d be better if they were completely divorced of these people and didn ' t try the idiotic
true story
angles .
lake mungo is not at all how i thought it would be . it ' s one of the most telling and chilling ghost stories that isn ' t necessaril . . .
i do not remember how much i paid for the rg9 , as this was a couple years ago . i did buy it from solid signal and there should be a price on the website . i can ' t remember what lengths it comes in , but i purchased 100ft . of it
a fantasy / sci - fi / music video mash - up starring jackson as a superhero and very talented dancer .
mostly , duckling is just a fine showcase for the director’s energetic style . quentin tarantino , who re - released the beyond in 1998 , has often cited fulci as an influence . that’s not bullshit namedropping : watch the scene in which angry villagers corner the town witch , brutalizing her while a nearby radio blares some jaunty ’70s rock tune , and try not to think of the ear - slicing setpiece qt would stage two decades later in reservoir dogs .
no extras aside from a few text screens of a fulci bio . i reviewed this because it has significant value - especially
audio is dolby true hd - a lesser used encode - it ' s 16 - bit but not very robust , luckily the film ' s production doesn ' t require excessive depth or separation . it ' s available in english or italian . there are optional japanese subtitles on the region ' a ' disc .
once i talked to a very famous therapist in japan ,
he says ,
and i said to him that i don ' t dream much , almost nothing , and he said : ' that makes sense . ' so i wanted to ask him : ' why ? why does it make sense ? ' but there was no time . and i was waiting to see him again , but he died three or four years ago .
he smiles sadly .
too bad .
note : blu - ray discs are in a high definition format and need to be played on a blu - ray player .
and netflix is racist against every single italian dvd known to man kind . proof you say ? well , how about the simple fact that every italian horror dvd i ' ve received from netflix has been damaged ! ? okay , okay so maybe it ' s just a coincidence . or maybe some overzealous giallo fan likes to urinate on the discs before giving them back . who knows ? all i know is that netflix has been utterly shady towards italian horror films , and i don ' t like it one bit .
splice is weird . not in a cool santa sangre , armless circus performer way though . . . more like in a i feel weird in my pants kind of way . a . . .
last year was also bad . annabelle was fantastic though , as i love creepy dolls and the shit reviews make it sound like there ' s a surplus of haunted doll movies . i ' m like
uh , show me them .
2 child ' s play movies , which are mostly comedic , in the last 15 years doesn ' t fucking count . loved annabelle . creepier than the conjuring and it didn ' t cop out at the end .
andrea martelli ( tomas milian ) is a reporter from rome who has come to cover the case . he’s immediately skeptical of the situation and his doubts are confirmed when the kidnapping investigation becomes the hunt for a child killer . he accompanies the police through a tour of the town’s fringes where he meets mystics , witches , and patrizia ( barbara bouchet ) , a rich young woman hiding from a drug scandal . with the help of patrizia and don alberto ( marc porel ) , a priest who teaches at the school , martelli attempts to find the killer as more and more children are found strangled and the townspeople begin exacting their own brutal forms of justice .
i didn ' t want to see it after watching the trailer , but once it came out i was like , eh might as well give it a shot , better than just spending money on every new hollywood flick - and it turned out to be really good .
damn , i just looked up harbinger down . i hope this movie lives up to it ' s potential and to the pedigree of immensely talented people working on it . this is a movie i didn ' t even know i wanted , but now i need it .
while researching his story martelli , who ' s also spending time with local thrill - seeking girl patrizia , interviews the local priest , don alberto . elsewhere , captain modesti and his aide meet with francesco ( george wilson ) , an old hermit living in a stone hut who practices black magic and offers charms and potions to the superstitious .
when tonino gets killed , the film’s mystery kicks into high gear . patrizia and the town’s reporter start working together in hopes of catching the vicious killer . they start to figure out the crime when they find a donald duck hat , hence the film’s italian title . i won’t spoil the ending , but it’s a wonderfully dark cap to the film .
when several young boys are brutally murdered in a small southern italian village , the superstitious locals react with ignorance and violence . all misfits are immediately suspected , such as big - city tart patrizia , local village idiot giuseppe , and voodoo practitioner maciara . a cop named martelli comes to investigate , and is rather curious about a young priest , don alberto , who censors the town ' s reading material to keep it free of corruption . no one is truly innocent in this town .
yeah , the grey was pretty good . liam neeson really sells it ; i think with some no - name actor it probably wouldn ' t have been good , but he jumps into the role with both feet and takes what could ' ve been a shlocky premise very seriously .