Silence Page #4

ICHIZO:

Tomogi... our village... I’m sorry

Padre, for this way... it is

difficult. But too dangerous. There

are more executions than ever.

MOKICHI:

If they know we are Kirishitan we will

be killed.

GARUPE:

The Lord hears you.

ICHIZO:

(humbly)

Yes. He sent you to us.

17

They reach a hut, indistinguishable to the priests from the

others dotting the ground. Ichizo nods for them to enter.

CUT TO:

22 INT. ICHIZO’S HUT NIGHT 22

ICHIZO’S WIFE comes out of the shadows and kisses Garupe’s

hand, startling him.

ICHIZO:

We have a little food. If you would

like.

RODRIGUES:

Yes, please.

Ichizo nods to her, and she leaves.

MOKICHI:

You'll be safe here until morning.

RODRIGUES:

Thank you. Tell me...

(as he looks around)

...how do you live like this?

The villagers look at him blankly. He thinks he may have been

misunderstood. Or, worse, may have insulted them.

RODRIGUES:

I’m sorry, I mean...how do you live as

Christians, when the danger is so

great?

MOKICHI:

We pray in secret. But we have our

jiisama...

RODRIGUES:

(trying to say the word)

Jiis -

MOKICHI:

Jiisama. He leads us.

RODRIGUES:

Who is this...

(struggles with the word)

...jiisama?

Mokichi NODS at Ichizo, who bows his head modestly.

18

RODRIGUES:

...he leads you? In your devotions?

MOKICHI:

He prays with us.

22A INT. ICHIZO’S HUT NIGHT 22A

On that last word, we CUT AWAY to brief images of Ichizo

conducting a baptism.

MOKICHI (V.O.)

The only sacrament he can perform

is baptism. We worship with the

jiisama. We hide the Kirishitan

images but God still sees us, yes?

Even though we do not have a

priest? Until now.

22B OMITTED 22B

22C INT. ICHIZO’S HUT NIGHT 22C

Ichizo's Wife quietly returns and HANDS each of the priests a

small bowl containing a few scrawny vegetables. They start to

eat. Mokichi MURMURS A QUICK grace. The priests are surprised.

And a little embarrassed to have forgotten the blessing.

Rodrigues puts his bowl down.

MOKICHI:

Every Kirishitan here is part of our

secret church.The tossama guide us

with prayer and teaching. The mideshi

help the tossama to preserve the

faith.

RODRIGUES:

I would like to meet the tossama.

ICHIZO:

(nods at Mokichi)

It is a group. And Mokichi is one of

them.

Mokichi lowers his eyes modestly.

RODRIGUES:

There was one of us, a priest, a

padre, named Ferreira. Do you know of

him?

19

The villagers shake their heads. The priests exchange a quick

look of disappointment,

Suddenly Ichizo's Wife, who has been watching the Westerners

eat, LAUGHS at Garupe’s way with the food. He smiles at her.

GARUPE:

(smiles, embarrassed)

Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry.

The expression of puzzlement on his face makes her laugh more.

Rodrigues attempts to smooth over the awkwardness.

RODRIGUES:

All this...this faith you have...this

courage...is only in Tomogi? What

about other villages? Is it the same?

ICHIZO:

We do not know about other villages.

We never go there.

RODRIGUES:

You don’t go?

ICHIZO:

Other villages are so dangerous. You

don’t know who to trust. Everyone

fears the Inquisitor, Inoue Sama.

MOKICHI:

Anyone can expose you to the men of

power. Inform on a Kirishitan and they

give you one hundred pieces of silver.

RODRIGUES:

Pieces of silver...

ICHIZO:

Two hundred for a Kirishitan brother.

And, for a priest, three hundred.

GARUPE:

(disturbed)

Three hundred? I’m flattered.

RODRIGUES:

You should go to the other villages,

let them know priests are here again.

In Japan again. That would be good.

You must let them know.

20

Ichizo nods polite agreement, but Rodrigues can see he hasn't

persuaded him. It is as he reaches for his meager bowl of food

again that he notices Ichizo has not been eating.

RODRIGUES:

(to Ichizo)

You do not eat?

ICHIZO:

It is you who feed us.

Rodrigues is struck by the simplicity and force of the answer.

As he bends over his bowl, his NECKLACE WITH A CRUCIFIX

ATTACHED SWINGS FREE across his chest.

Mokichi sees it. His eyes fill with a flash of emotion and his

hands make an involuntary movement toward the crucifix.

Rodrigues understands.

SERIES OF QUICK DISSOLVES: TO the crucifix, pressed to the

forehead of Mokichi, who is kneeling before Rodrigues; TO

Garupe, offering his own crucifix to Ichizo; TO the old man's

hands, wrapped around Garupe's; TO Mokichi's hands, as he takes

the cross Rodrigues offers.

RODRIGUES (V.O.)

(over series of dissolves)

“I was overwhelmed right away by the

love I felt from these people, even

though their faces couldn't show it.

They cannot reveal sorrow or joy. Long

years of secrecy have made their faces

into masks.”

Mokichi KISSES the cross and hangs it around his neck.

CUT TO:

23 EXT. MOUNTAIN ROAD & VIEW OF OCEAN FROM TOMOGI VILLAGE DAWN 23

A SERIES OF FACES in the procession, walking and staring

straight ahead. Mokichi. Ichizo. Other villagers. Faces seeming

to be impassive.

Garupe and Rodrigues, now dressed entirely in peasant clothes,

are following them with difficulty over the rough terrain.

Patches of thick wet mist swirl and drift all around them.

RODRIGUES (V.O.)

“They do not dare take us anywhere by

the main road. To hide like this must

be a terrible burden.

(MORE)

21

RODRIGUES (V.O.) (cont'd)

Why do they have to suffer so much?

Why did God pick them to bear such a

burden?

END series of CUs and CUT BACK to the procession...climbing on

through the woods...seen now from a distance, a ragged order of

small, brittle figures in an engulfing landscape.

RODRIGUES (V.O.)

“I pray Garupe and I have the strength

to help them.”

CUT TO:

24 EXT. CHARCOAL HUT DAY 24

A tumbledown charcoal storage hut near the top of the mountain.

The last of the morning mist is just burning off, but the

beauty of the landscape only seems to underscore the severity-the

desolation--of this pathetic shelter.

MOKICHI:

This is safest here.

ICHIZO:

If you are found, we will all be

killed. When you hear this sound...

...he makes a WRAPPING SIGNAL on the door.

ICHIZO:

...it will be us. If you hear anything

else...

On the loud OVERLAPPING SOUND of boards being dropped we...

CUT TO:

25 INT. CHARCOAL HUT DAY 25

Mokichi and two of the other villagers toss slatted boards

aside to reveal a deep hole in the ground. Dust and dirt swirl

in the air.

ICHIZO:

Hide.

GARUPE:

It looks like a grave.

CUT TO:

22

26 INT. ICHIZO'S HUT NIGHT 26

As Rodrigues teaches a catechism lesson to TOMOGI VILLAGER #2,a

VILLAGE WOMAN sinks to her knees before Garupe. Garupe LEANS

close to her, then backs off. He checks himself, and stays

close as she turns her face up to him. His face betrays traces

of distaste that his piety and earnestness cannot quite hide.

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