Silence

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, and Liam Neeson
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Screenplay by: Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese
Based on the novel by Shûsaku Endô

    1633 Japan.  Japan is a country at this time closed to much of the world, rejecting many European influences.  One such influence the country is trying to reject at this time is Christianity.  Priests and Friars have traveled there for years to try to spread the gospel, and many have been met with persecution.  We first meet Father Cristóvão Ferreira (Liam Neeson) in the opening scene as he watches his fellow friars being tortured at the hands of the Japanese persecutors.  Ferreira narrates this scene as it transitions to a scene that takes place years later.  The events are described in a letter that has reached another Jesuit priest (Ciaran Hinds).  He reads this letter to two other priests, Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Garrpe (Adam Driver).  
    Word has spread throughout the Christian world that Japan has become a dangerous place for those who would spread the gospel.  It is unclear what happened to Ferreira after the letter was written.  Rumor has it that he apostatized (renounced the faith publicly) and still lives in Japan.  Rodrigues and Garrpe believe that is simply not possible.  There is no way Ferreira would have publicly given up his faith.  So, Rodrigues and Garrpe set out on a mission to Japan to find Ferreira and continue their mission of spreading the faith.  But their superior warns them of the dangers that have befallen others in Japan and tells them, "you will be the last two ever sent."
    Silence is a film that can be difficult to watch at times.  Much of the time the film is paced very slowly and sometimes dialogue can be sparse.  There is very little in the way of music as well.  Like other Scorsese films, there are some scenes that are difficult to watch because they are quite graphic.  In one scene, Japanese Christians are tied up to crucifixes and set into the ocean where the high tide will drown them.  There are also some scenes in which people are being tortured in various ways.  While these are difficult scenes, there is not nearly as much blood and gore as there are in other Scorsese films such as Goodfellas.  Silence is not nearly as violent as it might be disturbing.
    This is the second movie in 2016 in which Andrew Garfield has played a devout Christian watching people die all around him.  He plays a conscientious objector in WWII in Mel Gibson's film, Hacksaw Ridge.  He plays a medic who goes into the battlefield without any weapons to protect him, yet he saved over 75 soldiers over the course of the battle of Okinawa.  In Hacksaw Ridge, his faith and physical strength are tested very heavily, but not quite like in Silence.  
    Silence is more than a test of physical and mental strength, but it is a test of one's faith and soul in a way that few films can portray.  Not only is Rodrigues met with resistance unlike any he's had to deal with up to this point in his life, but he is met with a type of resistance that will test his faith in God.  The conflicts and struggles he deals with over the course of this film will put him on the brink of renouncing his faith in order to save his own life.  Is he willing to die for God?  Or will he apostatize like the Japanese want him to do?
   Silence seems to draw from Japanese cinema stylistically, especially Kurosawa films.  Throughout the film I was reminded of scenes from both Seven Samurai (1954) and Yojimbo (1961).  In both of these films, there are problems that divide a town, and the townspeople look to an outsider to save them from the troubles.  Silence draws heavily on themes from these films because Rodrigues and Garrpe are the outsiders who have come to Japan.  They see the troubles facing people in particular towns, the towns where there are Christians.  These Christians look to the newly arrived priests for help and for salvation from their Japanese persecutors.
    For the 160 minute duration of the film, I found myself intrigued but not excited by the film.  I found it interesting, but easy to lose focus.  Silence is a slow paced film that focuses heavily on the details rather than the overall narrative arc.  By the end of the movie, the audience seems to know these characters, especially Rodrigues, quite well.  The film is an excellent character study of these priests who travelled to Japan.  It is certainly a worthwhile viewing.
     I give Silence an A-.

Image Source: servingcinema.com