Very powerful movie, with incredible depth and relevance, even centuries after it plays

Rating: 8/10 (8 March 2017)

"Silence" is the newest movie by Italian-American filmmaker Martin Scorsese. He is the director here and also one of the writers. Of course, this is an adaptation as this work originates from writer Shûsaku Endô and this is far from the first time Scorsese digs into Asian territory here if you remember "The Departed" or "Kundun", a film not too many remember, let alone in relation with Scorsese. But lets take a look at this one here. It is really long, way closer to the three-hour mark than the two-hour mark. And despite this massive runtime, the movie almost never drags. Yes the first 100 minutes, maybe 2 hours even, may be really slow and there is not that much happening that really stays in the mind for the wow effect, but it is still an extremely convincing character study about Andrew Garfield's character. Now I mentioned Garfield already. He is the only lead actor and star here and it is an amazing year for him with starring in Scorsese/Gibson films and scoring his first Oscar nomination as well. I remember really liking him early in his career, but this liking has faded a bit since then, but now today I know again what I saw in him and there is no denying he is one of the top lead actors in Hollywood right now with this movie here and "Hacksaw Ridge".
There's also a couple really convincing supporting performances in here. Issei Ogata definitely would have deserved an Oscar nomination as well as he may be the most memorable movie villain of 2016. Adam Driver does what he can do and elevates a character that really has little memorable value to himself, but Driver makes him interesting as well. Liam Neeson was okay too and he makes the ending the best part of the film, but I don't really see the praise by those considering him for an Academy Award nomination. However, his "Our Lord" is probably the most significant quote from the entire film and I guess this is the reason why so many remember him here, apart from the fact that he has a lot of screen time in the last third of the movie. But what is the real strength of this film. I think one reason is Andrew Garfield and I'd have loved to see him win an Oscar for his work here. I am also fairly certain that people 20 years from now will consider this one of the best, if not the best 2016 film. It delivers so so much. It is historically relevant. It makes a strong statement about religion while never being condescending into one direction or the other. It just picks times the way they were. There were many Japanese back then who would never agree to killing Christians, the ones we see in here, the ones who do it are a tiny minority only. And in addition, the film is also pretty beautiful to watch, the cinematography nomination is more than deserving. It's unreal this is all they gave to this movie. I guess the likes of "Passengers" was more deserving right?
Finally, I am not shy to call this our generation's "Apocalypse Now" and there are also many moments that reminded me of "The Deer Hunter". It is also quite fitting that you never think of these films when you hear the names De Niro and Sheen, and when you hear the name Garfield, you probably won't think of "Silence" either. But you absolutely should. This was a stunning movie and I am sure there is not another film from 2016 that comes near it in terms of depth. I'd have been perfectly fine with this one winning Best Picture, even if I would not call it my no°1 favorite of the year. This, however, only has to do with the fact that religion or 17th century Asia were never really subjects I cared for a lot, so if you have a deeper interest in these fields, then this is an absolute must-see and it probably would have been my favorite of the year too if I had such interest. But still it is really impressive how it is probably my number 2 of 2016 right now and it's a perfect example of how great Scorsese still is, how he can even make such a specific and perhaps unappealing to many (especially action film fans) subject so great to watch. So tense and atmospheric and really significant. I highly highly recommend you to not miss out on this mesmerizing watch. I have no doubt this film will age greatly and be considered among Scorsese's best at some point, and that means quite something looking at his body of work. Close to being a masterpiece. The man's still got it, but actually everybody else (even the tiniest little camera assistant) deserves a thumbs-up for what they did here.