10 all the way!

Rating: 10/10 (7 December 2019)

Having seen this movie, I decided to wait for a few hours to digest it and see if my opinion changed. After that time, I am more convinced it is a movie is flawless in its single-mindedness, its technical craft, and in its acting, but there are a couple of problems with the film.
Its violence is realistic and gut-wrenching, as many have said before. For a time this shock works towards its purpose, and you flinch at every blow. As the movie wears on, however, its relentlessness begins to de-humanize the sacrifice of its main character.
As I'm writing this review, I find myself trying to do so without any sort of revelation of my own personal beliefs, and it is difficult. If this were any other character besides Jesus, I'd be simply complaining that I didn't identify or feel any sympathy with the main character, and, consequentially, the suffering and the sacrifice's impact are lessened, and the movie suffers for it.
But this is about JAPANESE CHRISTIANS who endured horrific persecution because of their beliefs. Not unlike Christians today who endure persecution from the secular crowd who will one day be ushered into eternal darkness forever. Sobering.
I speculate that Scoreses was not interested in humanizing the Japanese, though. The film does not sermonize its message, but simply documents it. If this is what Scoreses intended to do, then he succeded with aplomb.
And though this review seems negative, I dont' intend it to be. I rated this film 10 out of 10 stars, and stick by it. It is beautiful, though painful, to watch. It is moving and, in its purpose, it succeeds. I walked into the movie expecting to be blown away, and wasn't, but I was still intrigued, and its made me talk to others and think about my own faith. Perhaps that was the intention all along.