Silence
Such a beautiful film that reflected my own experience battling questions of belief, truth, and morality as a christian missionary.
As they arrive to Japan, Rodrigues and Garupe are greeted by a congregation of persecuted Christians who treat them with adoration and subservience.
Rodrigues grapples with feelings of inadequacy at what he percieves to be an unequal exchange. These people seem to have more ardent faith than he does, so he feels uncomfortable with the mantle of authority he holds.
To the villagers however, this worship is well-deserved. They share what little food they have with these representatives of Christ, and in return, recieve the bread of life.
Rodrigues finds himself in the paradoxical struggle to both represent a symbol of perfect humility and keep his own pride in check. This egoic messianic allusion culminates in the moment of his trampling upon an image of Christ, when Ferreira tells him: "you are about to fulfill the most painful act of love that has ever been performed."
But is it his own pride and lack of faith that is the root of his apostasy, or was it that very pride that incentivized him to keep up the appearance of faith for as long as he did? This abandonment of faith invalidates the sacrifice and belief of the very people he's trying to save.
In the end, despite his desire to save; he becomes the judge and symbolic executioner of other Christians seeking to practice and spread the faith in Japan- a sort of reverse Saul of Tarsus.