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The movie shows the missionaries being cruelly Japanese tortured by the Japanesemissionaries. There were many cases where European missionaries, mainly Spanish and Portuguese , were tortured and martyred in the first half of the 17th century. In general, at least in the early years of the persecution, the Japanese were willing to expel the Catholic priests. It appears that the Tokugawa shogunate killed missionaries in order to frighten their colleagues to leaveinto leaving. This effort was largely successful , and the number of missionaries and clerics in the country was halved from 1590 to 1620.  In the movie , we see the Japanese being very eager to ensure that the Christian missionaries renounced their faith. This was the case as the The Shogunate wanted the discredit the priests in the eyes of the local population. The treatment of the priests in the movie and the cruel tactics used to make them renounce their faith are all based on historical precedents. Indeed, as in the movie film, the Japanese were able to make a small number of European priests to renounce their faith, ; they became known as the ‘Fallen Priests.’’ <ref> Breen, John, and Mark Williams, eds. Japan and Christianity: Impacts and Responses (NJ, Springer, 2016), p 112</ref>

In the late 16th and early 17th century, Japan came into contact with the Europeans. The Japanese initially welcomed them and valued them as trading partners and were impressed by their technology. The English, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese were all active in Japan. They came as traders or as missionaries. The Europeans competed with each other to win the favor of the local Japanese lords and the Shogun. Many Japanese suspected that the foreigners wanted to conquer or invade their country’ country, and this was justified. This is very accurately shown in the movie.  In one a crucial scene, an old Samurai compares the four competing countries to four concubines, whose machinations are leading to the downfall of a lord’s household. The four concubines are the Spanish, Portuguese, English , and Dutch , and the house they are destroying was Japan. Many in the ruling class believed that local Christians would support the conquest of the country by Western powers. This  The fear of foreign influence was the root cause of the persecution of the Japanese Christians and missionaries.<ref> Turnbull, Stephen. The Kakure Kirishitan of Japan: a study of their development, beliefs, and rituals to the present day. (London, Routledge, 1998.), p 89</ref>

The character of Father Ferreira was based on a real-life Portuguese Jesuit missionary. As in the movie , he was captured and tortured and abandoned his Catholicism in 1633. He later went on to marry a Japanese woman and wrote several books, that introduced Western ideas into Japan. As in the movie, he was a great missionary , and his rejection of his faith scandalized the Catholic Church in Asia .<ref>Breen, p 119</ref>. As required by law , he registered as a Buddhist at his local temple.  However, unlike the Liam Neeson figure, in real life , Ferreira, helped the authorities to persecute Japanese Catholics and even missionaries. The character of Rodrigues was based on the remarkable story of an Italian Jesuit, Giuseppe di Chiara (1602 –1685). He had arrived in Japan to find Father Cristóvão Ferreira, who was discussed above. However, when Di Chiara was captured, he too was also tortured, and renounced his faith. Later he married a Japanese woman and attained the rank of a samurai. He lived to a ripe old age and never returned to Europe. The Endō, the book's author of the novel upon which the movie script was based, Endō, was inspired to create the character of Rodrigues by from the story of Di Chiara. However , it seems that the character of Father Garaupe, is entirely fictional , as is his heroic death.

<i>Silence is a movie that </i> deals with some of the most profound human themes, such as forgiveness, faith, and religion. It is Scorsese based it on real life events and it . <i>Silence</i> is much more historically accurate than many historical movies and period dramas. <i>Silence does show </i> realistically shows how the Persecution of Japanese Shogunate persecuted Christians in Japan in the 17th century, in an accurate way. It The movies accurately shows the terrible ways that how the Shogunate and the local lords set out to destroy the small Chrisitan community. The  Unfortunately, the horrifying details of the torture of local how Christians are were tortured is also very accurate. The Japanese perspective as to why members of the Western religion were persecuted is also given in the movie. The story of the missionaries has a basis in fact. There were many missionaries in 17th century Japan and many were martyred and expelled. There were some also European missionaries who under torture renounced their faith and became what is known as ‘Fallen Priests’Priests. ’ The story of Fathers Rodrigues and Ferreira are both based on real people, namely two priests who apotheosized and rejected their faith.