Important issues marred by an academic script

Rating: 7/10 (15 June 2017)

A film about Jesuit evangelizing in 17th century Japan. It raises all the right questions about faith, religion and culture-clashes but thanks to the film's ineptness these issues remain inert.
A big problem is the script, attributed to Scorsese, which apparently went through many re-writes, usually not a sign the words will leap off the paper, or in this case, the film. The dialogue seems academic, a not very imaginative re-creation of the way priests might talk in the 17th century. Instead of an experience we get a dissertation.
And then there's the language problem. The priests are Portuguese but they speak in English. As do the Japanese although it is unlikely they would know English, or more to the point, Portuguese. Subtitles with people actually speaking their native languages would have made the film seem more realistic.
The other problem is casting Andrew Garfield as the lead. Utterly unconvincing. Liam Neeson is better but the best acting goes to the Japanese, especially the man who prosecuted the priests, the 'inquisitor' played by Issey Ogata.