There's a saying in here: "Mountains and rivers can be moved but men's nature cannot be moved"

Rating: 6/10 (1 April 2017)

Martin Scorsese (The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street, Shutter Island, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, Goodfellas) together with his frequent collaborating author Jay Cocks adapted the novel by Shûsaku Endô - and few stories could be less suggestive of Scorsese than SILENCE. It is a very long film that explores faith and Catholicism in Japan in the 17th century, a time when being a Christian was punished by torture and death. The film has moments but for the most part it moves very slowly between torture scenes and hiding from the Buddhist forces who desire to cleanse Japan of Catholicism.
The setting opens in 1633 Japan as Portuguese Father Ferreira (Liam Neeson) is writing a letter. Then the film jumps to 1637. Two Portuguese Jesuits, Father Rodrigues (Andrew Garfield) and Father Garupe (Adam Driver) listen as Father Valignano (Ciarán Hinds) reads the letter, which is said to be the last known writing from their mentor, Father Ferreira. Valignano says that Ferreira eventually apostatized to avoid being tortured and now lives in Japan in an arranged marriage. The two Portuguese priests do not believe this because Father Ferreira was their mentor and a committed believer of Christianity and a powerful influence on everyone he knew. They were going to be dispatched to find Ferreira, but with this message, the task seems complete. However, Rodrigues and Garupe beg permission to go to Japan to find out the truth about Father Ferreira and clear his name. Valignano reluctantly allows them to go. Rodrigues and Garupe face the ultimate test of faith when they travel to Japan in search of their missing mentor at a time when Catholicism was outlawed and their presence forbidden. They are 'assisted by an intermittently faithful Kichijiro (Yosuke Kubozuka) and when captured are interrogated by Inoue (Issei Ogata) and after years go by the faith of Rodigues is tested and to say more would spoil the little story there is.
The film is heavy handed, dark, well photographed, and has some solid points about Japanese culture versus Western culture, faith, Catholicism, Buddhism – and in many ways points out the pain and futility of entering another country's space and beliefs and the futile attempt to impose our own ways to 'make them better'. Sound a bit familiar for today's Middle Eastern world?