Fascinating 'Silence' weighs faith and doubt

Rating: 8/10 (28 January 2017)

Silence, Martin Scorsese's long-in-the-works adaptation of Shūsaku Endō's same-titled novel about a Jesuit priest searching for his former mentor in shogun-era Japan, is a truly religious piece of filmmaking, in that it looks for meaning in the contradictions and absurdities of faith, instead of its assurances. Filmed in Taiwan, it limits its view of 17th-century Japanese life to far-flung villages, tiny huts, and walled compounds, effectively alternating agoraphobic and claustrophobic perspectives. Like The Last Temptation of Christ, Silence clashes the spiritual and the practical, the human and the divine. With the dialogue concentrated on the mysteries of faith and how Rodrigues' rigid insistence on God's existence might be its own form of self-deluded arrogance. Silence is an esoteric undertaking that appeals more to the head than the heart. Some may find Silence's agonised self-flagellation far too ponderous and tortured. But Ferreira's appearance elevates the movie beyond matters of Christian doctrine to universal questions about how society should best confront all forms of intolerance. A slow-burn tale filled with beautiful imagery and understated performances, its elegance yields Scorsese's one of the most subtle efforts.
My Rating :4/5