Comparing Silence And The Wolf Of Wall Street

The novel Silence written by Japanese author Shūsako Endo and the film interpretation of it directed by Martin Scorsese, who is a renowned director for his other films Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street, are truly two works of art that transcend storytelling and the way one views things, in my opinion. A surface explanation of the plot of the story; is that it revolves around two Portuguese Jesuit priests, Rodrigues and Garupe, who find out that their teacher, who was sent to Japan, has committed apostasy and now they must travel their in order to find if this rumor is true and along the way spread Christianity. Both the film and the novel are extremely alike in storytelling, they both hold up to the fact in the way the story
is told, which is through the view of Jesuit Rodrigues, who in the film is played by Andrew Garfield. In my understanding of it, what the author and the director were trying to convey, was the feeling of loyalty and what one must suffer to see it through. Although both interpretations of the historical fictional story were very similar, there are indeed differences in which made me prefer one over the other.
When comparing and contrasting the novel to the film, it was difficult due to the fact Scorsese followed through with a perfect adaptation of the novel, but that’s not to say there weren’t any differences. One of the differences I had spotted early on was the roles that Mokichi and Ichizo played in the film, comparing it to the novel, it seemed that Shusaku Endo made Mokichi and Ichizo seem more like minor characters, although they did play their part in affecting the way Jesuit Rodrigues views the Japanese, but in the film we see more of who they are as individuals. In the film, Scorsese, makes these two characters more dimensional compared to the novel, first we see that Ichizo is one of the only Martyrs in the village, which serves as a gateway for the Japanese to practice Christianity, Mokichi on the other hand, is Ichizo’s right hand man, being a devoted Christian he stands behind Ichizo whenever Inoue discovers that the village is partaking in Christian prayers. A pivotal moment for Mokichi is when he gives Jesuit Rodrigues a carving of Jesus he made, which serves as a greater purpose later on in the film. Also for the death scene of these Characters it served as an inspiration for Jesuit Rodrigues and Garupe, seeing that these indigenous people would devote even their lives for a Religion in which isn’t even native or a part of their culture.
Another contrast between the the novel and the film, which I find to be the most important and the one that serves as a way you may view each interpretation, is the resolution that the film changed. Originally, the ending to the novel Silence by Shusaku Endo, involved Jesuit Rodrigues committing apostasy, and devoting the rest of his life to Buddhism, he followed the same footsteps as Jesuit Ferreira, emptying himself of the Christian faith and taking on a Japanese name and family which had originally belonged to someone else who was executed. It ends with him dying and his corpse being cremated and buried in a Buddhist Temple. This ending seemed way to vague in my opinion, but in the films interpretation of the ending Martin Scorsese decided to change that. He still followed the original layout in which Jesuit Rodrigues commits apostasy and devotes his life to the Japanese way, but instead of ending with the original cremation, Scorsese added to that. Before being taken to be cremated, Jesuit Rodrigues’ wife plants the wooden carving of Jesus that Mokichi had given to Rodrigues before his execution, in the ending of the film it zooms into that carving, and to me it served as way to inform the audience that Rodrigues hadn’t truly abandoned his faith, he still believed in the God he had thought to be Silent.
Even with the differences between the two, there still were similarities in which the film had kept from the novel and that would be the fact that it retained its amount of symbolism.
Of course this is something that should be expected from a story that involves religion, but the manner in which it’s placed is what makes it unique. An example of symbolism being portrayed in the story, is the relationship between Jesuit Rodrigues and Kichijiro, which is viewed as the relationship Jesus had with Judas, Kichijiro was someone who once pertained to the Christian faith but he decided to commit apostasy in order to save his life and out of his whole family he was the only one to do so, throughout the story he’s always filled with guilt always asking for forgiveness from Jesuit Rodrigues, but in the end he ends up betraying Jesuit Rodrigues to save his own life, just as he did with the Christian religion. Another example of symbolism at play, would be the fact that Jesuit Rodrigues could be viewed as Jesus, he suffers throughout the story always spiraling downwards questioning his faith to God, in some moments we can see this, when he looks at the water he sees the picture of Jesus where his reflection is supposed to be. By the end of the story, where Rodrigues must decide wether to apostatize or not, he hears Jesus telling him that they are the same, they both suffered for everyone else in order for them to live at
peace.
So after reading the novel Silence by Shusaku Endo and watching the film directed by Martin Scorsese, I’d say that I highly recommend anyone both the novel and the film, especially anyone who pertains to Christianity. My reason for this is because, they both tell a story of what one will do for their beliefs, how much they would endure, question, and suffer in order to be loyal. Although, I’d say the film did a better job of storytelling, especially with its change to the ending, you grasp a better understanding of the character, Jesuit Rodrigues. If I were to change anything, it would be the ending of the original novel, due to its lack of substance, make it more like Scorsese’s interpretation.