KMT 2021 nr 3 Download PDF

Image of a missions or mission through the image? Seventeen and eighteenth-century Jesuit missions in films: “Mission”, “Black Robe” and “Silence”

Cite: , Obraz misji czy misje poprzez obraz? Siedemnasto- i osiemnastowieczne misje jezuickie w filmach „Misja”, „Czarna suknia” i „Milczenie”, "Kultura - Media - Teologia", 2021( 46) nr 3, s. 188-211.

DOI: 10.21697/kmt.46.9

Jesuit missions, especially the old ones, are constantly fascinating. In this text, an attempt is made to take a closer look at three “missionary” films about missions in the 17 th and 18 th centuries. These are The Mission, dir. by R. Joffé, 1986, Black Robe, dir. by B. Beresford, 1991 and Silence, dir. by M. Scorsese, 2016. Many details in these films do not correspond to historical truth, but nevertheless the movies stimulate reflection. This was what the directors planned, not trying to suggest answers to the viewer, but simply asking questions about the faith they struggle with. Today, Europe is an aging continent and a periphery (not the heart) of the Church, which is why in Asia, Africa and Latin America they look for new inspirations for the Christian faith. The number of canonized saints in China, Japan or Korea is already greater than in Poland.

About authors

Wojciech Kluj

ORCID: 0000-0002-3888-7669