"Silence" is Golden

Rating: Null/10 (1 April 2017)

This ambitious historical film is set in seventeenth-century Japan at a moment when European Jesuit missionaries had worn out their welcome. Two Portuguese priests set out on a mission to locate their mentor, Father Ferreira, after reports suggest that he has renounced Christianity and converted to Buddhism. The film unfolds like Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" with a long journey up the river in search of the apostate.
SPOILER ALERT FOLLOWS: The final encounter of Fr. Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson)is a thoughtful conversation about the often futile attempts of the Jesuits to impose their values on other cultures. The wise Mark Twain realized this shortcoming and fulminated about those darned missionaries in his lectures. "Silence" offers an extremely insightful dialogue in the different positions presented by the two priests.
Unfortunately, the film has an endless buildup in order to arrive at that final conversation. Despite the beautiful cinematography, there is far too much screen violence that was entirely unnecessary to present the film's message. From the outset, it was clear that the filmmakers wanted to depict a clash of cultures. The slow-moving and sprawling pace of the film will be off-putting to many viewers.
Like Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," "Silence" is really the story of one main character. Like Kurtz, Fr. Ferreira's experience has led him to per deeply into the human soul, and the vision that he sees in not pretty. "Silence" opens up the possibility for an understanding of religious tolerance, not only in the seventeenth century, but for us today.