When Does the Second Film “Silence” (2016) Take Place?
"Silence" is a historical fiction film written by Jay Cocks with Martin Scorsese [adapting "Chinmoku" (1966) by Endō Shūsaku] and released December 23rd, 2016.
It takes place in the years:
We know this because three of the letters used as voiceover narration devices over the course of the film include dates.
1640 AD - 1641 AD
We know this because three of the letters used as voiceover narration devices over the course of the film include dates.
The main action of the film occurs just before and not long after the writing of the first letter from Father Sebastião Rodrigues (based on the real-world Jesuit priest Giuseppe di Chiara: 1602-1685 who actually arrived in Japan in 1643 AD), which is dated May 25th, 1640 AD.
Additionally, a quick prologue clearly depicts the real-world Jesuit priest Father Cristóvão Ferreira (1580-1650) and the letter used as narration over this prologue opens "1633 pax Christi, praised be god". So the quick prologue can be assumed to take place just after the writing of this letter in 1633 AD, based on revelations later in the film. Later flashbacks seem to take place then too.
Finally, the last section of the film is played out under the narration of writings from a travelling Dutch doctor named Dieter Albrecht who witness the aftermath of the main narrative in 1641 AD and also mentions a second visit roughly 10 years later. Albrecht then narrates an event in 1667 AD and, finally, recounts Rodrigues' death as he learned of it, sometime before 1682 AD- the time of Albrecht's last visit. (The real di Chiara, the basis for the fictional Rodrigues, died in 1685 AD.)
An excellent episode of the "History in Film" podcast examines its exact setting.
