harrowing first half

Rating: 7/10 (10 November 2017)

In 17th century Japan, Christians are persecuted. Jesuit priests from Portugal and their Japanese peasant converts are being massacred. Word arrives that senior priest Ferreira (Liam Neeson) had renounced his faith. His proteges Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Garupe (Adam Driver) are in disbelief. They travel to Japan guided by refugee Kichijiro who claims to be Christian. They find small communities of fearful Christians trying to hide their faith from ruthless inquisitor governor Inoue Masashige and cunning interpreter Mokichi.
Martin Scorsese doesn't know how to film a bad looking scene. The first half is harrowing and on its way to being one of the best films of the year. The midway point has Rodrigues and Garupe disagreeing about trampling a religious icon. That argument needs to be aired out and expanded. Scorsese should have let them stake out their positions. It would clarify Rodrigues' starting point and allow his journey to be more compelling. It's just odd that he seems to appreciate the deadly danger at that point but naively shocked at the actual violence done to the people after that. I expected him to be smarter or at least, not be the doe-eyed innocent shocked at everything. His emotional journey should be less melodramatic so that Ferreira's reveal could be much more shocking. With a minor alteration, the journey would have worked much better.