A gruelling but worthwhile experience

Rating: 8/10 (12 February 2017)

One of the harder watches of recent memories and an experience likely to drive a high percentage of ill-informed audience members scrambling for the exit signs before its conclusion, Martin Scorsese's long gestating passion project Silence, upon reflection is certainly not an easy film to recommend.
Slowly paced, perhaps a little too long in the tooth, uncompromising in its intentions and more than a few times quite confrontational, this piece of art and quickly forgotten about epic by one of cinemas most renowned voices will divide many but there's little doubt this almost masterpiece is a unique and layered film that is unlike anything else we cinema goers have seen before.
Adapting Shûsaku Endô renowned novel of the same name, Scorsese and his impressive behind the scenes team including regular editor Thelma Schoonmaker, costume designer Ellen Lewis and some stunning and well deserved Oscar nominated D.O.P work by Rodrigo Prieto who gives Silence an almost otherworldly feel as he uses the Taiwanese locations to great effect have set out to create a largely word driven experience that ponders the idea of faith of beliefs whilst shining a light on the plight of Christians in 1600 centaury Japan where they were often required to lay their lives on the line for their very beliefs.
The audience is thrown into this world as Andrew Garfield's Father Rodrigues and Adam Driver's Father Garrpe, both Jesuit priests tasked with unlocking the mysterious disappearance of Liam Neeson's fellow preacher Father Ferreira find themselves in the beautiful yet unforgiving lands of the Japanese and from a seemingly simple set-up Scorsese uses the narrative to explore various religious themes and debates that may leave many audience members numb mixed with boredom whilst others will be tightly enthralled by the spell cast within a film that seems intent on letting its story play out before our eyes with nothing pressing it forward at any great speed.
Silence's greatest weakness in the form that it has come out in is within its lack of warm emotional resonance and while sympathy and sorrow is found throughout, the ties that bind such an epic film are left wanting when it comes to a bond formed between the audience and the travails of these faithful Christian's.
Largely led by Garfield's Rodrigues, a turn in which on the back of Hacksaw Ridge suggests the young actor has entered into another level of his career, Silence often feels as though it's one tiny moment away from landing a big emotional wallop but it never comes and while it's a nice change of pace to see Scorsese away from the sometimes showmanship nature of his recent films like Wolf of Wall Street there are times where Silence may've benefited from a little more of the directors famed pizazz.
It's not hard to see why Silence has failed to capture traction at the Box Office or why it was largely shunned at Awards ceremonies over the previous months and while disappointing in certain regards it feels unwise to discount this eye capturing event as a film that will live long into the coming years as its future fans discover a hidden gem just waiting to be discovered and discussed by those that find it a true conversation starter.
A unique entry into the stunning filmography of a master storyteller, Silence is a passion project with rough edges and missed opportunities but a project that rewards on many levels while offering more deep thinking ponderings than many other films would dare to dream up and is likely to be an experience that will reward those willing to give the film chances to grow over multiple viewings, no matter how hard a trek it may be.
4 confessions out of 5