Read from the Silence what you will......

Rating: 8/10 (3 February 2017)

Silence is one of those films where what you take away from it depends on where you start from.
My starting perspective is one of pragmatism and historical fact. The realities of the time saw Portugal as a world power. Much as the US is today. Its ambitions somewhat mirror those of their latter day counterparts too.
Establish a strong presence in Japan with a view to exploit it for its resources. One of the key tools in that conversion was cultural assimilation. Get the locals to see things you way. One of the key tools to achieve this at the time, was religion.
Religion infused every aspect of 17th century life. It offered solace in a world filled with hardship. It was used by states to keep the populace under control and compliant and that needs to be kept in mind when considering Silence.
On the surface it would seem the Jesuit priests and their followers are victims of a cruelly enforced code of silence. To believe something and not be able to express it openly.This is no doubt true. Yet, whats just as true, is Christianity, at the time was just as intolerant and inflexible and used much the same methods, including torture and executions, to ensure its religion remained in control. This benefited both the state and the clergy.
So what to make of Silence? Viewed as an historical document its fine. Its beautifully crafted, with stunning visuals and a great story. I would say its a little overstated at times and it would have been nice to for the film to focus a little more of its screen time on the apostate priests lives working as a religious "customs service" for the Japanese state. Sadly, this is compressed into the final quarter of the film.
Being critical I would say it could have been more balanced and at least acknowledged more directly the brutality of religion as a political too on both sides of the East/West divide.
That said, this remains an excellent film. Its well directed, acted and examines a fascinating period in human history where religion was the mainstay, that held the fabric of society together. Eight out of ten from me.