"The hard thing to die for is the miserable and corrupt."

Rating: 8/10 (5 November 2019)

In many respects, this movie plays like a horror film with regard to the incredible tortures the old Samurai Inoue (Issei Ogata) concocted to turn adherents of Christianity into apostates. Not enough to physically beat on people, the horrors involved setting on fire and crucifixion during high tide to drown one's victims. It became totally credible why Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson) renounced his faith by virtue of the many lives he saved who would have faced retribution as part of Ferreira's own punishment. Which is why the dialog between Ferreira and Father Rodrigues Sebastiao (Andrew Garfield) is so conflicted on both sides, the latter unable to grasp the centuries of virulent opposition to Christianity by Japanese daimyos. Just as casual viewers might not fully understand the history of Catholic martyrs who suffered and died for their faith during totally different eras and under different circumstances. The film brought to attention something I've always wondered about, that being what the mind holds firmly in belief versus actions taken to avoid pain and suffering. All three principles in the story, portrayed by Garfield, Adam Driver and Neeeson, give exceptional performances, though Neeson's Ferreira is absent for a good part of the story. Many parts of the movie are difficult to watch, much less attempt to comprehend, as man's inhumanity to man for no other reason than opposing religious viewpoints is often on display.