Silence (2016)

Like politics, never bring up religion at the dinner table.

It’s 17th century Japan and the government is killing citizens who identify themselves as Christians. Among those killed were a bunch of priests who came over from Portugal, to not just spread the word of Christianity, but also help out the Japanese citizens who rightfully did follow the faith. Stuck over there Father Cristóvão Ferreira (Liam Neeson), a mentor to many priests still living in Portugal and influential figure in the world of Catholicism. Two of his proteges, Jesuit priests named Sebastião Rodrigues Francisco Garupe (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver), decide that they have to find him in Japan, discover whether or not he’s dead and see if they can change some ways in how Catholicism is accepted in Japan. However, both soon realize that, as soon as they enter Japan, the Japanese government does not at all take kindly to anyone preaching the Catholic word, especially priests from another place who came over solely to do just that.

“Trust me, my son. I used to be Spider-Man.”

As far as passion-projects go, Silence is one of the better ones. Martin Scorsese himself has been hard at work trying to make this movie a reality for the past few decades, and while there’s been some sure signs of it possibly happening before, unfortunately, we’re just getting the movie now, many, many years after the fact. That said, whatever halted the project for so long, clearly worked and mattered in the long-run as Silence isn’t just one of the best religious epics in quite some time, but one of Scorsese’s most personal and emotional.

 

It’s a known fact to anyone who has seen more than a few of his movies, that Scorsese loves to discuss faith and how it embodies each and every person. Here, he gets to explore that idea more and more, but he’s never showy about it; the movie’s nearly three hours long and while it is definitely a slow-mover, it’s never boring. Every shot, every action, every line of dialogue, everything in general, is so perfectly specific and timed, that it seems like Scorsese himself had everything planned-out perfectly way ahead of time, so that he didn’t miss a single beat. It’s the sign of not just a true director, but an even better storyteller, finally getting the chance to tell a story that’s closest to his heart, the only way he knows how: Through film.

That said, Silence is less about Scorsese and his battle with his demons, and more about the actual battle between right and wrong, understanding one’s faith, and how it actually makes you who you are. The movie could have been incredibly preachy and come right out and said, “Without faith, you are nothing,” but it doesn’t. The movie’s much smarter in that it shows how religion can be used in many different ways; for some, it’s a healing mechanism to help get them through hard times and remind them of the better ones to come, while for others, it may be used as a weapon. The movie makes it a point to show how much these Christians are being persecuted for what they believe in to their core, and while a lot of people may come away from seeing this thinking the movie’s all about that, it’s actually much, much deeper than that.

If anything, the movie does something smart in that it actually raises a magnifying-glass to Catholicism and many other religions, without ever showing a sign of disrespect.

Without diving into it too much and having this just be one, long sermon courtesy of someone who doesn’t know how to deliver an effective one, Silence is interesting in how it shows that all religions, when you get right down to it, may act and work in different ways, but are mostly all beneficial to those who are involved with it. The movie also dives deep into this idea that those using faith and Catholicism to their advantage, may be just as bad as those persecuting the ones for following said same faith. There’s a lot of discussions about one’s identity and how one’s faith connects it all, which made this adventure all the more compelling.

Because yes, the movie is, after all, an adventure and it feels very much like that. But with Silence, we don’t get the typical flair and energy from Scorsese – this time, he’s much more mannered, subdued and surprisingly, subtle. For instance, there’s a lot of scenes involving gruesome and ugly violence, yet, rather than getting all in-your-face about it like he’s done before, Scorsese takes a step back, shows it in a different light and in a way, makes the violence being portrayed on the screen, all the more terrifying. Same can be said for the rest of the movie, where it seems like Scorsese’s following a certain path, where he sets the pace and carries us by his side.

“Please, Father. Keep me away from more Taken movies.”

Cause if I’m going to spend nearly three hours in 17th century Japan, the only person I want to do it with is Marty Scorsese.

That said, Scorsese doesn’t take away from his ensemble, either. While it’s a bit disheartening to see the likes of Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver play Portugal priests, it’s still easy to get past once you actually see them act and realize that they’re very good at what they do. Neeson and Driver aren’t around nearly as much, which gives Garfield plenty of time to work through this material’s like no one’s business; the character is already so interesting that Garfield doesn’t have to do much, but there’s an extra layer of emotion and compassion to his performance that makes this character downright heartbreaking. If anything, this performance reminds me that Garfield is probably one of the most exciting talents we’ve got working today and makes me so damn excited to see what he’s up to next.

It’s interesting though, because you’d assume with a movie about how rather villainous and evil that these Japanese folks can get, that they’d all be despicable and one-note, but that’s very far from the truth. Sure, while they’re mostly all terrible human beings, they’re layered and have more going on underneath the hood, other than just wanting blood and guts. Some are just doing their job and sticking to it, while others are simply scared as hell and just trying to survive. In ways, God or Jesus doesn’t even factor into it – it’s just life itself.

And sometimes, that’s more important.

Consensus: Many years in the making has proven to be a smart move for Silence, Martin Scorsese’s decades-long passion project that is quite possibly his most emotionally satisfying, powerful and personal since the Last Temptation of Christ.

9 / 10

“So uh, what’s up with the food?”

Photos Courtesy of: Indiewire