0029 – silence (2016)

spacetime coordinate: St. Paul’s College, Macau  17th century Nagasaki, Japan

Silence is a 2016 religious historical epic drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks and Scorsese, based upon the 1966 novel of the same name by Shūsaku Endō. Set in Nagasaki, Japan, the film was shot entirely in Taiwan around Taipei. The film stars Andrew Garfield (as Sebastião Rodrigues), Adam Driver (as Francisco Garupe), Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano and Ciarán Hinds.

The plot follows two 17th century Jesuit priests who travel from Portugal to Japan to locate their missing mentor (Father Cristóvão Ferreira) and spread Catholic Christianity. The story is set in the time of Kakure Kirishitan (“Hidden Christians”) which followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638) of Japanese Roman Catholics against the Tokugawa shogunate.

father Rodrigues is fascinated by the face of Jesus Christ and visualizes it in the form of this portrait by El Greco

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0026 – Proteus: A Nineteenth Century Vision 2004

The animated documentary Proteus explores the nineteenth century’s engagement with the undersea world through science, technology, painting, poetry and myth. The central figure of the film is biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel, who found in the depths of the sea an ecstatic and visionary fusion of science and art.

Selections from the the film Proteus:

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024 – magical Egypt navigating the afterlife (TV Episode 2001)

John Anthony West, Rick Strassman, Lon Milo DuQuette documentary

009 – Kingdom of Heaven 2005 (director’s cut)

spacetime coordinate: 1184 France,  the Holy Land

The story is set during the Crusades of the 12th century. A French village blacksmith goes to aid the Kingdom of Jerusalem in its defence against the Ayyubid Muslim sultan Saladin, who is battling to claim the city from the Christians leading to the Battle of Hattin. The film script is a heavily fictionalised portrayal of the life of Balian of Ibelin (ca. 1143–93).

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0002 – Goya’s Ghosts (2006)

spacetime coordinate: spain 1792

Goya’s Ghosts is a 2006 Spanish-American film, directed by Miloš Forman (his final directorial feature before his death in 2018), and written by him and Jean-Claude Carrière. The film stars Javier Bardem, Natalie Portman and Stellan Skarsgård, and was filmed on location in Spain during late 2005. The film was written, produced, and performed in English although it is a Spanish production.

“-So how do you want me to ride?
-How do you want history to perceive
you, madam?
-The way I am,
young and beautiful.”

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Although the historical setting of the film is authentic, the story about Goya trying to defend a model is fictional, as are the characters Brother Lorenzo and the Bilbatúa family.

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