Silence

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2017)

"Silence" is not going to be a movie for everyone. Coming off his last commercial and critical hit "The Wolf of Wall Street", Scorsese now brings us a completely different type of film: two Jesuit missionaries go to Japan, where Christianity is outlawed, in order to find a priest that has gone missing. In a pretty varied career overall, with films ranging from "Taxi Driver" to "Goodfellas" to "The Departed" to "Shutter Island" to "Hugo" to "The Wolf of Wall Street", "Silence" stands out as one that is completely unlike anything else Scorsese has made. This is apparently a passion project by Scorsese, and it shows. While the film got generally positive reviews, it seems to be one of the more divisive of Scorsese's career and I don't expect it to be a commercial hit. It is long, slow, hard to watch, and it isn't a typically entertaining film, but it is incredibly well made and thought provoking about the concepts of religion and faith.
The film begins with the brutal torture of several Christians in Japan by seething hot water being dripped onto them slowly, and reveals that what we are seeing is a description from a letter which is being read by a Jesuit priest to two missionaries. It seems they have been seeking word from the author of this letter, Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson), for some time, and the priest is telling them that it is time to give up, since they have gotten word from the messenger of this letter that Ferreira has abandoned Christianity and joined the Japanese. They simply can't believe this, and they are determined to find out for themselves.
I don't know if I was just tired or if this was the fault of the movie, but from about 20 minutes into the film until probably the end of the first hour, more or less, I found myself dozing off during multiple scenes. Luckily, the slow moving and generally uneventful, but well directed first hour does end, and the small developments made in that time frame do ultimately pay off for the rest of the film, which I found much more engaging and thought provoking. The film begins to ask questions about faith and religion that don't necessarily have clear answers. When does being a good Christian collide with being a good person? Which is really more important? Is there even a God? Is he even worth fighting for? What makes one religion more important than another? Which is more important: your intent or your action? Can you be a good Christian even if you never act upon it or show it outwardly? How do you find peace and redemption? Can you change the nature of a human being? All of these difficult and taboo questions (and more) are handled with grace by Scorsese, and he never truly provides an answer for any of them, but just continues to ask them in a number of different ways. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, and the film is constantly visually interesting in the camera's movement and the blocking and composition, even when confined to only a few locations for a large amount of the run-time. It is powerfully acted by Liam Neeson, Adam Driver, and especially Andrew Garfield, who is a serious contender for best actor this year. Each actor fully committed to their role, losing a lot of weight in order to add to the realism of their character. The film doesn't promote Christianity, but it also doesn't condemn it. While the film insinuates that Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) sees or speaks with God on multiple occasions, it is never clear whether this is real, or formed out of Rodrigues' desperation, and almost every time he encounters God something horrible happens immediately after, making both the audience and Rodrigues question whether God is really there.
In the dumpster fire that is known as religious movies, there are few shining gems. Those few gems include "Breaking the Waves", "Black Narcissus", "The Passion of Joan of Arc", "The Gospel According to St. Matthew", "Winter Light", and, while I have yet to see it, Scorsese's own "The Last Temptation of Christ" is loved by many. "Silence" is possibly my favorite of this bunch, and I have a feeling I'll like it even more the next time I watch it.