Propaganda: Divorced From Context (Truth)

Rating: 3/10 (25 January 2017)

This is a beautiful but deeply flawed film. Missionaries did not travel to Japan in this historical period "to do good". They went as paid agents of the church, of the Spanish crown, of the English and Dutch trading companies. In this fil we have two "do good" priests arriving in Japan at a moment when the Christians are outlawed in Japan. We are never ever given much explanation at all as to why the Christians were outlawed. No mention of the lies, the theft, the back room deals, the corruption and plans for conquest of Japan being hatched by the Church and its trading partners. In essence, this film is a fantasy and a collection of falsehood, where the actual truth is suspended fro dramatic effect by an ageing director who should know better and who once had the courage to do better. I find the film so deficient in historical fact, in cause and effect, as to be laughable. It is in fact sad to see such a beautifully acted, photographed and directed film fall into such a terrible pit of propaganda, historical distortion and outright misrepresentation of the church, the Japanese and the truth itself. The cruelties depicted are hard to watch and every one of them is presented without context. There is in fact something cowardly about this film. In the end it does not serve history, the Japanese, the Church or the casual film viewer. It is a cruel- hearted film presented entirely without context.