''Os Olhos da Ásia'' (Portuguese: The Eyes of Asia) is a 1996 Portuguese historical drama film directed by

João Mário Grilo João Mário Lourenço Bagão Grilo (born 8 November 1958) is a Portugal, Portuguese film director, author and professor, born in Figueira da Foz. He attended economics at the University of Coimbra but dropped out. In 1983, he graduated in sociol ...

, who also co-wrote the script with Paulo Filipe. It is partially based on the novel ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient hearing, audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low sound intensity, intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be exten ...

'' by

Shūsaku Endō was a Japanese author who wrote from the perspective of a Japanese Catholic. Internationally, he is known for his 1966 historical fiction novel ''Silence'', which was adapted into a 2016 film of the same name by director Martin Scorsese. He ...

. The film premiered at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

on 15 August 1996 where it was also nominated for the

Golden Leopard The Golden Leopard () is the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to b ...

. The film was released in Portugal on 11 April 1997.

Plot

Nakaura of Julian (Julião Nakaura), a priest of the Society of Jesus, was one of four young ambassadors sent to Rome by the Jesuits in 1538, as proof that Japan had converted to Christianity. Fifty years after the mission, which so fascinated European royalty, Julian was forced again to prove his faith, only this time before a ''

shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

'', who wanted to force him to abandon his religion. Julian resists, as does

Miguel Chijiwa (1569? – January 23, 1633) was a member of the Japanese delegation to European Christendom, also known as the Tenshō embassy. Later, he abandoned the Christian faith. However, the recent discovery of a rosary in his graveyard made public ...

, a fellow at the embassy to Rome, who become a martyr. Betrayed by Cristóvão Ferreira, who cannot bear the torture, Julian suffers an inglorious death ... or maybe not.

Cast

Geraldine Chaplin Geraldine Leigh Chaplin (born July 31, 1944) is an American actress whose long career has included multilingual roles in English, Spanish, French, Italian and German films. Geraldine is a daughter of Charlie Chaplin, the first of his eigh ...

as Jane Powell * João Perry as Cristóvão Ferreira *

António Cordeiro António Cordeiro (c.1641; Angra – 2 February 1722; Lisbon) was a Portuguese Catholic priest in the Society of Jesus, Azorean historian, author of the classical chronicle ''Historia Insulana'', and first to publish a public opinion on the f ...

as Mateus * Marques D'Arede as Giovanni Adami * José Eduardo as Lucas do Espírito Santo * Rui Gomes as Sebastião * Kyioto Harada as Matazaemon * Edward Ishita as Edward Ishita * Yuzi Kosugi as Kurobei *

Carlos Martins Medeiros Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhere ...

as António de Souza * Yoshi Oida as Julião Nakaura * Itaru Takahara as Sr. Takahara * Yasukiyo Umeno as Miguel * Diogo Vasconcelos as Orlando

References

External links

* 1990s historical drama films 1996 films Films about religion Films based on works by Shūsaku Endō Films directed by João Mário Grilo 1990s Japanese-language films Portuguese historical drama films 1990s Portuguese-language films History of Christianity in Japan Historiography of Japan 1996 drama films 1997 drama films 1997 films Films scored by Jorge Arriagada 1990s multilingual films {{Portugal-film-stub