A Valiant Effort

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2017)

1- Story: The story follows one of two Porchegese priests who travel to Japan in the 1600s to spread their faith, and find a fellow priest who has been taken captive. The priests we follow, in particular the main one played by Andrew Garfield are not at all well developed. Garfield's character is a blind follower of Christianity, who gives his God credit for everything. Meanwhile, his counterpart, played by Adam Driver, is the classic non-believer who struggles but ultimately stays by the rules. When we are asked to follow these two into, we are given no reason why they are interesting or important to follow. The story suffers for this, with the first two-thirds being very interesting as the story is built and the conflict is introduced, but when we are meant to follow Andrew Garfield's character as the true trials begin, it somewhat deflates.
Performances: Though they are not given much to work with from a script perspective, both Adam Driver and Andrew Garfield do a fine job with what is provided, no doubt with help from their director, the great Martin Scorsese. The truly interesting acting comes from the Japanese actors, all of whom have such interesting looks and demeanor, not to mention good acting skill, to create this feeling of unease that puts you in our main characters place. The best part of the entire film is Issei Ogata, who delivers such a strange and intimidating performance that it's incredibly engaging. From the moment he comes on screen, you want to know more, and as you learn, you are only more interested.
Craft: So, as I said, the script needs a little work. The two main characters have very little back story, and when we are expected to watch them challenge their beliefs, we have no reason to be on their side, we don't really know what their beliefs mean to them. The dialogue is somewhat stiff as well, but this could be because none of the characters in this film would be speaking English. The directing by Martin Scorsese is masterful, maybe some of his best work. He uses the beautiful and somewhat intimidating ambiance of his setting to make the audience as uncomfortable as the priests, and this works to incredible advantage, with high tension and unease throughout.
Entertainment Value: As I've said, the first two-thirds of this film are incredible as we learn about the environment we are in. However, once this is done and the story is really set in motion, it is less interesting, with some characters giving you tastes of excitement, and wonderful direction throughout, but it is not a perfect film that entertains all the way through.
Memorability: There are certainly elements of this film that are highly memorable. The performance of Issei Ogata, the brilliant directing and some of the visuals are absolutely breathtaking. But this film is nearly three hours long, and after a time, these elements are not enough to live on in tour mind. It is worth seeing, but don't have your hopes too high.