Silence Page #5

CHINESE BUSINESSMAN

You see. He will be very good guide.

He will be good.

As they make their way out, Kichijiro falls drunk onto a table,

knocking into a man (Chinese? Portuguese?). The man pushes

Kichijiro away. Kichijiro tries to stand up when he is pushed

again (attacked?). He cowers and begs. Rodrigues and Garupe

react. The Chinese Businessman tries to protect them. Rodrigues

and Garupe go to Kichijiro on the floor to stop the violence.

They help him up and hand him to the Chinese Businessman.

GARUPE:

Our guide. He can’t be a Christian.

RODRIGUES:

He says he’s not but can you believe

anything he says?

The Chinese Businessman takes Kichijiro away down the alley,

the taverners laugh.

GARUPE:

I don’t even want to believe he’s

Japanese.

CHINESE BUSINESSMAN

(shouting back to priests)

You see. He will be good!

The priests look at Kichijiro.

RODRIGUES (V.O.)

"And he said to them: Go ye into the

whole world, and preach the gospel to

every creature." Even to one such as

this.”

As the priests watch him, wondering if they’ll regret their

decision.

12

RODRIGUES (V.O.)

So our Lord commanded. And as I

prepare to do His work, I see His face

before me.

CUT TO:

11 INT. RODRIGUES'S ROOM/MACAO MISSIONARY COLLEGE 11

Rodrigues lies on his simple bed, staring at the ceiling.

RODRIGUES (V.O.)

“His face is fresh in my memory. Just

as I saw it the first time as a novice

in Evora. He looks as he must have

when He commanded Peter, ‘Feed my

lambs, feed my lambs, feed my sheep.’

“

CUT TO:

12 INT. CHAPEL OF THE EVORA NOVITIATE 12

CU:
The face of Christ in the image that Rodrigues remembers.

RODRIGUES (V.O.)

“It's a face filled with vigor and

strength. It fascinates me. I feel

such great love for it. ”

From the face of Christ, we...

CUT TO:

13 EXT. MACAO HARBOR DAY 13

...the face of Valignano, standing on the dock in a misty rain,

surreptitiously giving a blessing. A tender boat carrying the

two priests, now disguised as Chinese sailors, moves toward a

sea-battered Chinese junk waiting beyond the harbor.

RODRIGUES (V.O.)

“During the long weeks at sea the gift

of God’s trust sustained us both. We

never doubted His guiding hand. I

embraced this journey as I embraced my

vocation, with honest apprehension

about my own strength, but with joy,

too, that God has trusted me with this

chance.”

13

On the tender, the priests watch the figure of Valignano recede

into the SWIRLING MIST like a daub of paint into a fresco.

CUT TO:

14 OMITTED 14

Rate this script:4.5 / 2 votes