Ep. 41 - Sidetrack: Silence

Like Mother, Like Son, Like Movies

Despite of our in depth discussion with my mother on the Japanese culture and thematic concepts explored in Martin Scorsese's Silence, we could not help no to dedicate another discussion on the matter. But instead of the usual mother-son chit chat, I sit down with Eddy Van der Borght, a professor at the The Faculty of Theology at VU University Amsterdam. He was an amazing conversationalist with whom I got to share thoughts on the theological weight of Endo's story. Next to the themes of the film and novel, we go through a lot of the history of jesuits and Christianity in Asia. We also talk about theology and how religion relates to people today as well as the role of movies in challenging our morals. Spoilers: I repeat the same warning as before and advice that you first see the film before listening, if you want to avoid spoilers. Also if you are familiar with the story it will help to join in the topics related to the film.